Charles Hoskinson has pushed back against criticism surrounding Cardano’s absence from the Open USD (OUSD) stablecoin consortium.
During a recent exchange on X, Hoskinson argued that ecosystem participants cannot criticize Cardano’s lack of involvement in major commercial initiatives while simultaneously voting against proposals specifically designed to create those opportunities.
Hoskinson’s remarks came in response to criticism from prominent Cardano DRep YODA. The DRep questioned why major Cardano-related organizations, including EMURGO, Cardano Foundation, and Input Output Global (IOG), were absent from the newly formed Open USD Consortium.
Notably, the consortium includes more than 140 institutional partners, among them Ripple, Mastercard, OKX, MoonPay, and Visa.
Hoskinson Calls for Governance Accountability
In response, Hoskinson stressed that governance participants must accept responsibility for the consequences of their voting decisions. According to him, the development teams invested hundreds of hours designing proposals intended to accelerate Cardano’s commercialization efforts. However, once those proposals entered the governance process, DReps voted them down.
“We put hundreds of hours, carefully proposing direct routes to commercialize Cardano. We brought it to a vote. You voted against it,” the Carano founder noted.
Hoskinson added that he does not care about the reasons behind those decisions because DReps ultimately own the outcome of their votes.
“I don’t care about your reasons. You own the vote,” he remarked.
Commercial Partnerships Require More Than Membership: Hoskinson
Meanwhile, Hoskinson argued that joining initiatives such as the Open USD Consortium is relatively straightforward. The more difficult challenge, he said, involves deploying capital and building the financial infrastructure necessary to support those partnerships.
As part of that effort, he pointed to his proposal for a managed sovereign wealth fund capable of providing liquidity, minting stablecoins, and financing ecosystem growth initiatives. Hoskinson also highlighted several projects that he believes form the commercial backbone of the Cardano ecosystem, including RealFi, Midnight, Blockfrost, and Pogan.
According to him, these initiatives provide the infrastructure upon which larger commercial integrations can be built.
Governance Tensions Continue Across the Ecosystem
The latest dispute further highlights the governance tensions that have dominated much of the year within the Cardano ecosystem.
The disagreements contributed to the cancellation of several IOG funding proposals, including research and development funding for Blockfrost and the Cardano Summit 2026.
Amid the ongoing debate, Hoskinson recently advocated for governance reforms. His proposals include moving Cardano governance discussions to a moderated Discord server, becoming a DRep himself to participate directly in voting and improve accountability, and revising the ecosystem’s constitution.
