Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, delivered a scathing critique of meme coins in a live stream aired on Halloween, October 31, 2024. Hoskinson spoke from Colorado about the current state of the crypto market, focusing on the proliferation and perceived inherent flaws of meme-based cryptocurrencies.
Cardano, no meme coins
Hoskinson minced no words in his assessment of meme coins, labeling them as fundamentally worthless. “Meme coins, they have no value, they will never have value, they will never have value, stop, stop thinking they are degenerating. Grow the fuck up,” he claimed.
Building on his critique, Hoskinson elaborated on the speculative nature of meme coins, characterizing them as inherently unstable and prone to pump-and-dump schemes. “What do you honestly expect? What do you expect? What is the outcome of this game? You buy a token and the token goes up a little bit and a whole bunch of other people rush in and the token goes up and then what happens? People dump you. That’s how the game works. It has always worked this way for meme coins, and it will always work this way for meme coins,” he explained.
Hoskinson also focused on the role of social media in perpetuating the meme coin phenomenon. He criticized the lack of accountability among self-proclaimed experts and analysts and the ease with which meme coins can be launched and promoted online. “They are of no use. There is no culture behind someone taking a photo of me and turning it into a meme coin for the purpose of being a pumping and dumping”, he stated.
The Cardano founder also wondered why meme coins have become that popular this cycle. “We all know that these things (meme coins) have no value. There is no use behind it. When they lose their shine, they go to zero. (…) The reason why meme coins have some popularity right now is that people are bored (…). We’ve had three years of a brutal bear market. It was terrible and that’s why people had to do something with all this crypto wealth,” Hoskinson explains.
In stark contrast to meme coins, Hoskinson praised Cardano’s fundamental strengths and long-term vision. “Look at something like Cardano. There is one government in the chain. There is a smart contract stack. There is a network with 1.4 million users that allows you to store information in a secure way. It has been running for seven years straight. You can use it as a basis to rebuild the social fabric of society itself,” he emphasized.
Beyond crypto, Hoskinson delved into broader social issues, expressing his frustration with the current state of public discourse and accountability. He linked the rise of meme coins to a “barren market” and societal distractions, suggesting that the lack of depth in discussions – both in crypto and beyond – contributes to the prevalence of speculative and unproductive financial activities.
Hoskinson concluded his speech by calling on the crypto community to prioritize meaningful engagement and responsible investment. He urged users to focus on the tangible utility and long-term potential of blockchain technologies, rather than succumbing to the fleeting hype of meme coins. “If you can do that, you are a real crypto user, a real one because you are worthy of being your own bank and in charge of your own life,” he said, reinforcing the ethos of self-sovereignty that underpins Cardano’s mission.
At the time of writing, ADA was trading at $0.3468.
Featured image from YouTube, chart from TradingView.com