👑 Who the f Is Charles Hoskinson — Crypto’s True King of Rats?
@IOHK_Charles isn’t just another crypto founder.
He’s the force behind Ethereum, Cardano, and Midnight — and one of the few who doesn’t just talk, but builds.
Clinics, metaverses, sidechains, DeFi protocols, open-source science.
In a scene full of noise, Charles brings vision, delivery, and yes — rat king energy.
His nickname? A badge of survival. He sticks around when others fold.
📄 Ethereum’s Real Founding Team
Ethereum began in 2013 with a whitepaper by Vitalik Buterin. But it had 8 co-founders:
- Vitalik Buterin – Whitepaper author, Ethereum’s public face
- Charles Hoskinson – Early CEO, structured the ICO
- Gavin Wood – Wrote the Yellow Paper, created Solidity
- Joseph Lubin – Co-founded the Ethereum Foundation, later started ConsenSys
- Anthony Di Iorio – Early financier and evangelist
- Mihai Alisie – Co-founded Bitcoin Magazine with Vitalik
- Jeffrey Wilcke – Developer of the Go implementation
- Amir Chetrit – Involved in early business development
The infamous split (“Red Wedding”) came when Charles pushed for a for-profit structure and Vitalik insisted on a nonprofit.
Hoskinson exited — and began building what would become Cardano.
💼 What Charles Built Instead
Charles founded Input Output (IOHK) and launched Cardano, a blockchain radically different from Ethereum.
Development kicked off in 2015, with key phases like:
- Byron (2017): Cardano’s foundation and ADA launch
- Shelley (2020): Enabled staking and network decentralization
- Goguen (2021): Introduced smart contracts and native assets
- Basho (ongoing): Focused on scalability (Hydra, Mithril)
- Voltaire (active): Builds out governance and treasury voting
Cardano’s approach centers on slow, deliberate progress, prioritizing stability over hype.
It uses:
- ✅ Peer-reviewed academic research as a foundation
- ✅ Ouroboros: a mathematically provable, energy-efficient PoS protocol
- ✅ On-chain governance via CIPs (Cardano Improvement Proposals)
- ✅ Native asset support without smart contracts
- ✅ Haskell & formal methods to ensure bulletproof code
Cardano’s governance journey continues with Voltaire, enabling the community to vote on funding proposals and implement protocol changes without centralized control.
Its staking model is designed for fairness and decentralization — allowing anyone to delegate or run a pool.
Charles also launched Midnight, a zero-knowledge privacy sidechain powered by the $NIGHT token.
And with Hydra reaching new maturity levels, Cardano recently supported a 37M-wallet airdrop.
As Charles said:
“Leios is doing well, Hydra delivered Hydra DOOM, and Hydra is also getting to a point of maturity where Midnight is able to do a 37M person airdrop using Hydra technology.”
Cardano’s vision isn’t just more blockchain — it’s public infrastructure for identity, finance, and decentralized governance at a global scale.
Later, he introduced Midnight, a zero-knowledge privacy chain, and Hydra, Cardano’s scaling protocol. He confirmed:
“Leios is doing well, Hydra delivered Hydra DOOM, and Hydra is also getting to a point of maturity where Midnight is able to do a 37M person airdrop using Hydra technology.”
🌌 Beyond Blockchain: The Hoskinson Multiverse
- 🏥 Owns an anti-aging clinic in Wyoming that accepts ADA
- 🧬 Invests in fungal DNA and mammoth resurrection
- 📚 Founded the Hoskinson Center at Carnegie Mellon University
- 🍄 Advocates mycology and biohacking as part of human health evolution
“If you get the right leaders in the room, give them the right authority, and hold them accountable in the right way,
I have a belief that Cardano will be bigger than Ethereum.”
🧠 Quantum Girl: The ELI18 Origin Story
Charles once explained quantum computing like this:
“Imagine a hot girl hides her phone number in a massive library.
A classical computer checks book by book. A quantum computer checks all at once.”
This inspired our WTF-style: Business Punk, Tiktok Degen Style Eli18 category.
🎥 Iconic Charles Content
🛡️ Decentralization, CLARITY, and the Future
“When the CLARITY Act passes, the U.S. military is probably going to replace the CAC system with DIDs and post-quantum security.”
“The minute the CLARITY Act passes, we’re going to see blockchain used for voting, cybersecurity, supply chain, and defense.”
More on that in our full article:
WTF is the Clarity Act?
📈 Cardano Momentum & Predictions
- $ADA TVL just hit $410M per DeFiLlama
- Alex Becker:
“If ETH hits $4.5–5K, ADA will hit $5–6.” - Charles believes multichain is key to impact:
“Multi-chain collaboration is the only way to solve hard problems like decentralized internet to every phone,
or medical records that move securely from hospital to clinic to patient.” - Also bullish on Bitcoin DeFi:
“There’s massive innovation coming — from Midnight’s cryptography to Mithril and big Plutus upgrades.”
See our deep dive: WTF is Bitcoin DeFi?
🐀 King of Rats = King of Survivors
While others chased hype, Charles:
- Survived multiple bear markets
- Built through FUD and silence
- Shipped when others ghosted
🔗 Related Blog Reads
🌟 Final Vibe Check
Charles Hoskinson isn’t just building chains. He’s redesigning how we think about data, governance, identity, and trust.
Whether it’s a clinic, a ranch, or a sidechain — the man ships real tools for real problems.
Support the ZEITGEIST Pool — Single Pool Operator. 0% Fees. 100% Cardano Vibes.
💬 Your Turn
Is Charles the most important person in crypto? Or is there someone else on the throne? What about his beef with Cardano Whale – Will it settle soon? Drop your spicy takes below 👇