Cardano Founder Slams "Ghost Chain" Label Amid Ecosystem Growth and Trading Surge

Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano, has fired back at critics calling Cardano a “ghost chain” following a Fast Company report citing a study from Cornell University. The report claims that fewer than 500 individuals are generating $250 million annually and manipulating over $3.2 trillion in artificial crypto trading. Hoskinson responded, “Cardano with its real numbers = ghost chain. The chains with fake numbers = VC darlings, mass adoption, changing the world.”

Despite ongoing criticism, Cardano continues to show real growth. According to Input Output, nearly 1,989 projects are building on the Cardano network. The number of delegated wallets has climbed to 1.328 million, with staking activity up 0.07% from last week. Over 10.72 million native tokens have been issued under 210,662 token policies, reflecting a 0.14% weekly increase.

Smart contract activity remains strong, with 129,374 Plutus scripts and 5,691 Aiken scripts deployed. Cardano’s transaction volume has reached 107.69 million, up 0.16% week-over-week. Governance participation also remains active, with 1,217 DReps, of which 923 are currently engaged in decentralized decision-making.

Meanwhile, the Lace wallet has begun integrating multichain support, starting with Bitcoin, enhancing Web3 interoperability and DeFi access. In another boost, Coinbase derivatives have filed to list Cardano futures, and AMINA Bank has introduced ADA staking services.

Market interest is also growing. In the last 24 hours, 1.05 billion ADA, worth $750 million, were traded in futures markets, led by Binance. Hoskinson remains bullish on 2025, forecasting a breakout year for crypto, including Cardano, despite recent volatility.

With real metrics and expanding adoption, Cardano is making its case against the “ghost chain” narrative.