Cardano Whale Revolt: Rejects IOG, Hoskinson Threatens Legal Action

Tensions are rising within the Cardano community as a major delegated representative, known simply as “Whale”, has launched a critique of founder Charles Hoskinson and Input Output Global, accusing them of wasting millions in ADA on underdelivered promises. Whale, who reportedly controls around 6 million ADA worth of delegated voting power, declared a blanket rejection of all future proposals from IOG. 

What’s happening?

Before deactivating their X account, Whale wrote:

We’re in a place where the founding entity has not delivered much for years and is requesting obscene amounts of money to keep the same level of non-delivery going.

Whale urged fellow Cardano stakeholders to delegate their ADA to representatives committed to auto-denying IOG proposals, essentially triggering a governance revolt just as a vote on the 2025 Cardano Summit proposal went live.

Hoskinson responds

Charles Hoskinson didn’t take long to respond. He denied the common criticism that Cardano was neglecting scaling development, stating that it was already “underway,” and dismissed Whale’s demands as “pettiness on-chain.”

The Cardano founder doubled down further, claiming Whale does not speak for the wider community and revealing he was in contact with a defamation law firm regarding recent accusations.

This escalation quickly drew comparisons to Craig Wright’s aggressive legal strategy with BSV, a strategy many say backfired and damaged the project’s image. Some Cardano users worry that Hoskinson’s legal warnings may do the same.

Community reaction splits

The Cardano community appears split. One longtime user, Cardano Rep, publicly changed his delegation in response to the debate. While he acknowledged areas where IOG could improve, he warned against abandoning the team entirely.

Others, like prominent user Toshi, sided with Whale, saying Cardano had failed by focusing too much on governance upgrades and not enough on fundamental scaling.

The Whale drama comes just days after Hoskinson announced he had received the first draft of a long-awaited audit report, launched after accusations of a $500 million discrepancy in ADA holdings. Hoskinson has pledged to read the report aloud on a livestream once finalized.

Whether Whale is a rogue voice with influence or the tip of a growing rebellion remains to be seen. But for now, Cardano governance is facing one of its most public and polarizing stress tests to date.