Drama explodes as Hoskinson hints at class-action against Cardano Foundation

Amid a scandal in which Cardano (ADA) founder Charles Hoskinson is facing accusations of misappropriating more than $600 million worth of ADA tokens, the man himself has not only fulfilled the promise of an audit but also hinted at a possible class-action lawsuit.

Specifically, in a recent X space, Hoskinson voiced his anger with the Cardano Foundation (CF) for “ruining the integrity” of the ecosystem, and hinted at a possible class-action lawsuit with the Swiss government, according to the excerpt shared in a post by user Stake with Pride on September 4.

As he said:

“At some point, we, as the ecosystem, have to hold them (CF) accountable. An info action with a vote of no confidence, maybe a class action suit with the Swiss government to get them to vacate the board.”

Besides, Hoskinson also suggested that Frederik Gregaard, the CF CEO, should take responsibility and resign, and hand over his position to “somebody who has leadership ability.”

History of Hoskinson vs. CF beef

As a reminder, the allegations, which began in May 2025, stipulated that Hoskinson had manipulated the blockchain during the 2021 Allegra hard fork to direct 318 million ADA (worth $619 million at the time) from presale addresses into the Cardano reserves.

On top of that, non-fungible token (NFT) artist Masato Alexander accused the Cardano founder of using a ‘genesis key’ to rewrite the ledger, claiming that the majority of the original token holders never reclaimed their funds, although Hoskinson said that they had redeemed most of the 350 million ADA.

Recently, an internal audit revealed that there was no financial misconduct in this case, confirming that 99.7% of all tokens sold pursuant to the ADA voucher program have successfully underwent the on-chain redemptions and Post-Sweep Redemption Project. Per the report:

“The Investigation determined that each of the allegations related to the Topics of Investigation do not have any basis. (…) Among other things, the Investigation determined that the Voucher Program sales process included reasonable safeguards to prevent deceptive tactics.”

Additionally, the investigations revealed that the unclaimed ADA went to Cardano Development Holdings for grants and community initiatives. As it happens, this was a joint investigation by Input Output Global (IOG), global law firm McDermott, Will & Schulte, and the global accounting firm BDO. 

Meanwhile, Cardano whales continue to purchase their favorite token, having scooped up 100M ADA in a single day back in late August, and the latest audit, clearing it of fraud allegations, might be one of the triggers needed for a price recovery.