Key Takeaways
- A recent audit report has exonerated Charles Hoskinson and IO of charges that they misappropriated 318 million ADA.
- Key figures in the campaign for accountability have accepted the report’s findings.
- Hoskinson has accepted an apology from @FredCardano, who led much of the criticism against him.
In September, an external audit exonerated Cardano Developer Input Output (IO) and founder Charles Hoskinson of charges that they misappropriated 318 million ADA in unredeemed “vouchers” left over from Cardano’s Initial Coin Offering (ICO).
The publication of the audit report has quelled much of the criticism levelled against Hoskinson, who on Monday, Oct. 6 agreed to bury the hatchet with a key figure in the movement to investigate him.
Overview of Cardano Voucher Allegations
In May 2025, NFT artist Masato Alexander accused Hoskinson/IO of using Cardano’s genesis key to misappropriate 318 million ADA tied to unredeemed ICO vouchers.
According to Alexander, changes made during Cardano’s Allegra Hard Fork in 2021 diverted unclaimed ADA to the Cardano treasury, blocking rightful voucher holders from receiving their tokens.
The allegations sparked outrage in the community, prompting a fierce response from Hoskinson, who denied the charges and lashed out at media outlets he accused of spreading misinformation.
IO Commissions Independent Audit
To clarify the situation, IO employed the law firm McDermott, Will & Emery, and the forensic accounting firm BDO to conduct a thorough audit.
The investigation ultimately concluded that 99.7% of ADA linked to vouchers was redeemed, and that allegations of theft and improper ledger manipulation were unsubstantiated.
For many in the Cardano community, the report corroborated what Hoskinson had said all along—that the amount of unclaimed vouchers was negligible, and that IO never moved or manipulated any unredeemed ADA.
The 318 million ADA transaction cited by Alexander and other critics was traced to a documented genesis-key operation used for protocol-level staking rewards distribution, not to move unclaimed ADA into private control.
Settling the Beef Post-Audit
In light of the audit, key figures who had campaigned for transparency and accountability have accepted the report’s findings.
On Monday, the X account, @FredCardano, which helped propagate suspicion against Hoskinson, announced that it would suspend key channels used to organize petitions against Hoskinson.
These include the account itself, the Cardano Ethical Oversight Discord, and a stake delegator critics had organized around in efforts to resolve the matter.
The account extended their “deepest and sincerest apologies” to Hoskinson and IO for “deeply disparaging, damaging, and accusatory statements I have made in the past.”
“The recent audit into the ADA voucher sale, conducted by BDO, has shown that Charles and all of the involved parties were absolved of any wrongdoing,” they added.
“As a result, I want to retract all of my previous accusations of any wrongdoing during the voucher sale.”
In his own X post in response, Hoskinson said: “ I accept the apology and I’m glad that this terrible and hurtful chapter in our ecosystem’s history has been closed.”
Tensions Remain High
The détente suggests BDO’s audit may have successfully quashed a brewing rebellion in Cardano’s ranks. However, the issue isn’t completely resolved.
Alexander himself has shared posts that describe the audit as “unreliable” and has shown no indication he intends to make peace with Hoskinson.
Meanwhile, Hoskinson’s calls for Cointelegraph to retract its initial report, which was the first to give the allegations serious attention, remain unanswered.
“Accusing IOG of stealing 600 million dollars is defamation at the highest level,” the Cardano founder charged recently. “Giving a platform for it without even contacting us and not correcting the record once we have been fully exonerated is equally defamatory and reckless.”
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James Morales is CCN’s blockchain and crypto policy reporter. He has been working in the news media since 2020, writing about topics such as payments, banking and financial technology. These days, he likes to explore the latest blockchain innovations and the evolving landscape of global crypto regulation.
With an educational background in social anthropology and media studies, James uses his platform as a journalist to explore how new technologies work, why they matter and how they might shape our future.
