Cardano Founder Calls Ethereum Co-founder a Dictator, Claims Vitalik Controls All of Ethereum’s Work

Charles Hoskinson slammed Vitalik Buterin over his significant influence in the Ethereum ecosystem.

Charles Hoskinson is the founder of the Cardano blockchain. Ethereum was founded by eight people, including Charles Hoskinson and Vitalik Buterin. Within one year, Hoskinson left Ethereum because his vision didn’t align with Vitalik’s vision for the future of the Ethereum project.

On 25 Sep 2024, speaking to Cointelegraph at Token2049 in Singapore, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson said that blockchain networks can either elect to keep the protocol forever simple, like Bitcoin, or “pick a king” to run things.

For the Cardano blockchain’s new governance model, he said that it solves the “governance trilemma” of “efficiency, effectiveness, and integrity” by using delegated representatives and a members-based organisation called Intersect to distil complex governance topics down for a vote.

To explain his point of view further, Hoskinson compared Ethereum to a dictatorship. He said Ethereum’s “entire vision” starts and ends with Vitalik Buterin.

He also claimed that everyone in the Ethereum project looks to Vitalik for the roadmap and inspiration, and that he’s the only individual with enough power to rally people.

Additionally, the Cardano founder criticised Ethereum’s roadmap for relying too much on “extractive Layer 2s” as activity and fees on the main network (L1) have dropped. Hoskinson questioned whether the push for Layer 2 solutions came from Ethereum engineers or from Vitalik Buterin, who has openly supported and advocated for them. Hoskinson also noted that while Buterin has influence over development activities, he doesn’t have total control over Ethereum’s decentralised network.

Potential Impact on Ethereum in the Future

Hoskinson criticised Vitalik for his influence on development activities but didn’t mention the potential negative impact. Some believe that if, for any reason, Vitalik were to disappear in the future, Ethereum’s price would be significantly affected. Therefore, many argue that Ethereum should have multiple leaders sharing the vision for future decisions, in order to maintain leadership and avoid potential panic.

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