Cardano Founder Faces Scrutiny Over Missing 1,090 BTC

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson is facing scrutiny over the missing 1,090 BTC from the Cardano Foundation. The investigation was launched by cryptocurrency bankruptcy creditor Thomas Braziel, who claims to have discovered a discrepancy in the allocation of funds during the project's initial coin offering (ICO) in 2015.

Braziel analyzed corporate and registration filings from both the Isle of Man and Switzerland entities related to Cardano's initial legal structure. According to the genesis records, a total of 108,844.5 BTC was raised through four rounds between October 2015 and January 2017. Out of those funds, about 1,090 BTC went to the Isle of Man entity, while 7,168 BTC went to the Swiss-registered Cardano Foundation.

Braziel's main concern is determining where the 1,090 BTC went to and who controls it, given that the Isle of Man entity was dissolved in December 2025. He raised that point in a follow-up post, observing how the foundation appears to have left the funds without a clear or publicly documented custodian.

The investigation has sparked concerns about potential conflicts of interest arising from Charles Hoskinson's roles at both the Cardano Foundation and IOHK, the company building Cardano's software. The Cardano project's lack of transparency in managing and allocating funds during the ICO boom has also been highlighted by Braziel.