Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has cautioned that the cryptocurrency industry risks prolonged stagnation if it persists in fostering a culture of hostility and criticism. He highlighted this issue while introducing Midnight, a new blockchain aimed at enhancing privacy and adoption. Hoskinson emphasized that such negativity hampers innovation more than market downturns.
Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, recently stated that the crypto market will struggle to expand if the sector continues to promote a culture of hostility and knee-jerk criticism. He pointed out that prolonged sluggish price performance has transformed parts of the community into what he termed “bitter keyboard warriors,” who respond to new ideas with “toxicity, negativity, cynicism, and criticism.” According to Hoskinson, this atmosphere stifles innovation even more severely than any bear market.
These remarks came during his discussion of Midnight, Input Output’s fourth-generation blockchain, which he unveiled to tackle remaining obstacles to widespread on-chain adoption. In a YouTube video titled Midnight Whiteboard, Hoskinson portrayed the project as a connector between current digital systems and a decentralized future, centered on rational privacy, digital identity, and compliant cooperation. The platform seeks to empower users with control over sensitive data while maintaining regulatory transparency, a combination Hoskinson views as crucial for enterprise uptake.
Midnight’s design addresses practical challenges that deter businesses from blockchain integration, including support for identity management, transaction privacy, and cross-sector partnerships. It aligns with Cardano’s research-based approach and serves as an entry point for Web3 users, potentially enabling novel digital trade mechanisms and establishing benchmarks for privacy-focused infrastructure.
Hoskinson’s call for a cultural shift aligns with his prior comments amid recent market declines. He has lambasted panic selling, attributing volatility to emotional decisions rather than core fundamentals. Amid rising global debt, eroding faith in fiat currencies, and worsening geopolitical tensions, he argued that cryptocurrency gains relevance. “Crypto is the opt-out. Crypto is the exit,” Hoskinson declared, forecasting that the ecosystem will exceed one billion users and capture most global assets by 2030.