Cardano Founder Says Bitcoin Can’t Survive without the Crypto Industry   

Charles Hoskinson, the founder and CEO of the Cardano development firm IOG, critiques the long-term survivability of Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s largest crypto by market cap. 

Bitcoin Needs Crypto Industry to Survive 

The Cardano founder expressed this concern in a recent viral interview, emphasizing that he does not see Bitcoin surviving without the industry. 

Hoskinson’s statement was in response to some Bitcoin proponents who believe the asset has grown to the point that its survival does not rely on the broader crypto ecosystem.  

According to Hoskinson, Bitcoin requires the crypto ecosystem, including exchanges and other infrastructure, to survive. However, he noted that the entire crypto ecosystem can survive without Bitcoin. 

“Bitcoin is not self-sufficient anymore,” he stated.  

Any Asset Can Replace Bitcoin as Digital Gold 

Although Hoskinson acknowledged Bitcoin’s reputation as digital gold, he asserted that the asset is essentially a token with a deflationary monetary policy at the end of the day. 

He contended that Bitcoin could potentially be replaced by another digital asset offering comparable or superior security at any moment. Hoskinson reflected on the seven-year effort made by Cardano’s research and development arm to design a secure proof-of-stake (PoS) protocol. 

He revealed that the ecosystem has been considering the right approach to adopt in building a secure consensus protocol that is energy-sufficient with all of Bitcoin’s properties. 

However, Hoskinson said the Bitcoin community labeled these efforts a scam and dismissed the possibility of such technology ever launching.  

Reacting to this criticism, Hoskinson emphasized that he fails to envision Bitcoin, which he claims has a religion and not an ecosystem, surviving in the long term. 

“We don’t necessarily need Bitcoin. Bitcoin is gonna have to grow, adapt, and change if it wants to survive long-term,” the Cardano founder added. 

Hoskinson warned that Bitcoin could face a similar fate as Microsoft, which has lost a significant percentage of its market dominance due to the paradigm shift in the technology market. 

Furthermore, Hoskinson noted that BTC could lose its market dominance one day as the industry progresses and focus more on developing innovation outside the Bitcoin network. 

The Cardano founder has been vocal in pointing out Bitcoin’s technological flaws. As reported earlier, he noted that Bitcoin is its worst enemy due to the community’s failure to bring innovations to the network.