Cardano Founder "I was once a Bitcoin whale"...Revealed past ownership of 108,000 BTC

▲ Charles Hoskinson, Bitcoin (BTC)/AI generated image

Cardano (ADA) founder Charles Hoskinson revealed that he acquired 108,000 BTC during the initial crowdsale.

According to crypto media outlet The Crypto Basic on August 31 (local time), Hoskinson recently stated on The Breakdown podcast that he was once one of the world's largest Bitcoin (BTC) holders. He explained that his holdings grew to 108,000 BTC by converting funds raised in Japanese Yen during Cardano's initial crowdsale into Bitcoin. At the time, with Bitcoin priced at approximately $250, this amounted to $27 million.

Hoskinson recalled discussing these Bitcoin holdings with Mike Belshe, the CEO of BitGo, at the time. However, he did not specify whether he or any Cardano-related entity still holds those Bitcoins. Hoskinson emphasized that his long-standing network in the Bitcoin ecosystem could benefit Cardano's Bitcoin decentralized finance (DeFi) business.

Cardano is pursuing a strategy to attract long-unused Bitcoin liquidity into decentralized finance. Hoskinson believes that if stable earning opportunities are provided, Bitcoin holders can deploy their funds into DeFi. He also emphasized that individuals must be able to directly control their assets and private keys. Pogun, an initiative by Input Output Group, is designed to allow Bitcoin holders to use Cardano's DeFi while directly managing their private keys.

Related technical performance has also significantly improved. According to Hoskinson, the size of Bitcoin DeFi proof data has been reduced from 40GB to 28.1MB. Verification time has been shortened from approximately 354 seconds to 0.149 seconds, and transaction verification costs have been lowered from about $14,000 to $37. Pogun plans to launch a collateral-free, oracle-less credit market in Q2 2026, maturity-based yield DApps in Q3, and a BitVM-based Bitcoin bridge in Q4.

Pogun CEO Omer Husain stated that they have secured loan demand even before the service launch. Initial borrowers have indicated a demand of $500 million, and regulated financial institutions have expressed interest in supplying up to $1 billion. The combined potential demand is $1.5 billion. Cardano is leveraging its network built with Bitcoin holders and technological improvements to secure Bitcoin liquidity.

[Article Key Summary]

-Charles Hoskinson revealed that he acquired 108,000 BTC by converting funds raised in Japanese Yen during Cardano's initial crowdsale into Bitcoin.

-Cardano's Bitcoin decentralized finance technology has reduced proof data size from 40GB to 28.1MB and lowered verification costs from approximately $14,000 to $37.

-Pogun has identified potential demand of $500 million from initial borrowers and up to $1 billion from financial institutions, respectively.

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