cardano defi debate: Hoskinson blames ADA holders

Charles Hoskinson blamed ADA holders for weak Cardano DeFi adoption and argued that increased native usage could boost TVL.

Why did Charles Hoskinson blame ADA holders?

On 2025-11-03 he told media that the behaviour of ADA holders is a primary reason Cardano’s DeFi ecosystem remains small, a claim reported by The Crypto Basic. In this framing the issue is engagement rather than protocol capability; it shifts scrutiny from developer tools and infrastructure to end‑user activity and on‑chain native usage.

Hoskinson asked, “How will we convince users of other chains to come and play in our backyard?” — a line highlighted in the report that ties user choices directly to TVL outcomes.

From a cardano analysis perspective, the founder argued that higher native usage could materially change TVL outcomes. It should be noted that this is an attribution focused on user choice rather than code or consensus constraints.

What exactly was the accusation?

Hoskinson said ADA holders are not deploying assets into DeFi at scale and that this inactivity suppresses growth. The remark links user engagement with macro measures such as TVL and frames redeployment of capital as a key lever.

What are the adoption barriers?

The Crypto Basic report lists three practical obstacles: community inactivity, poor UX, and limited yield opportunities. In this context, those factors make staking or holding ADA more attractive than experimenting with DeFi primitives.

• Community inactivity — low on‑chain participation and limited dApp usage.
• UX issues — wallet and onboarding frictions that deter mainstream users.
• Yield issues — returns in Cardano DeFi are seen as less competitive by some users.

Several DeFi analysts say overcoming TVL inertia requires coordinated UX upgrades, competitive yield structures and visible security audits; without those, capital often remains in staking or off‑chain products rather than native DeFi.

Note: addressing UX and yield simultaneously is likely required to shift user behaviour.

Could increased native usage raise TVL to five to ten billion?

Hoskinson suggested that native usage growth could push Cardano’s TVL toward a target of five to ten billion. He presented this as a realistic upside if holders redeployed capital into DeFi instruments and if dApp UX and yields improve.

Investors should weigh staking versus DeFi returns and watch whether UX improvements move wallets from passive holding to active participation. The path to a multi‑billion TVL requires both product‑level incentives and improved user engagement metrics.

In brief, the founder attributes low TVL to user choices rather than protocol limits; remedying UX and yield hurdles is central to any recovery.