Charles Hoskinson Wants to Swap $100M in ADA for Bitcoin & More

Here we go again. Hot on the heels of Polkadot’s proposal to diversify into Bitcoin, Cardano (ADA-USD) co-founder Charles Hoskinson just floated his own $100 million crypto chess move. The idea? Convert a chunk of ADA treasury into Bitcoin and stablecoin, and inject real liquidity into Cardano’s DeFi ecosystem, where stablecoin adoption and user activity still lag far behind rivals like Solana (SOL-USD).

Hoskinson pitched the plan on a livestream, suggesting that $100 million worth of ADA be swapped into a mix of Bitcoin, USDM, and USDA. The goal is bold: supercharge Cardano’s DeFi scene by pumping up stablecoin activity and kickstarting Bitcoin DeFi on the network.

While it echoes Polkadot’s recent strategic reserve idea, the Cardano twist adds fuel to an already simmering internal debate. Because not everyone’s on board.

Hoskinson Defends the Sale, Blasts Critics

Critics immediately flagged the risk of market impact. But Hoskinson wasn’t having it. He dismissed the concern as noise from “inexperienced” voices. Liquidity, he claimed, isn’t a problem.

“This wouldn’t cause any problems at all,” Hoskinson said, adding that ADA’s depth and trading volume can absorb the move.

That may be true in theory. But a $100 million offload, even via a slow DCA strategy, still raises questions in a market where sentiment can turn on a dime.

Stablecoins Are “Killing Cardano,” Says Hoskinson

In a post on X, Hoskinson got blunt: Cardano’s lagging DeFi and stablecoin footprint is “killing” the network.

Currently, only about 10% of Cardano’s $356 million total value locked (TVL) is in stablecoins. Compare that to Solana’s $9.8 billion TVL and $11 billion in stablecoins, and the contrast stings.

Hoskinson wants to push that ratio to 30%–40%. He believes the proposed swap would unlock “non-inflationary revenue” and establish Cardano as a serious DeFi player, not just a speculative token.

Internal Split Deepens as Gregaard Stays Cautious

But not everyone at Cardano agrees on the path forward. Frederik Gregaard, CEO of the Cardano Foundation, previously downplayed the importance of TVL as a metric for adoption. He’s taken a more cautious, infrastructure-first view of Cardano’s future, one that doesn’t rely on flashy capital moves.

Hoskinson’s proposal seems to throw that playbook out the window. It’s not just a bet on assets, but a bet on an entirely new pace for Cardano growth.

What’s Happening with ADA?

As of Friday, ADA is trading near $0.42, down nearly 9% this month. While prices haven’t cratered on the news, the market isn’t exactly cheering either. Traders seem to be waiting to see whether the proposal actually makes it to a governance vote—and how it’s structured.

The method, if adopted, would likely involve dollar-cost averaging over a long period to avoid price shock. But as with Polkadot, the broader impact may be psychological: is this the moment when altcoin projects quietly admit that Bitcoin is the safer bet?

This Could Be a Turning Point for Cardano

If the $100 million swap goes through, it would mark the biggest capital shift in Cardano’s history. It signals urgency, a recognition that without a thriving DeFi and stablecoin ecosystem, ADA risks getting left behind.

More than a treasury move, it’s a philosophical change. Less narrative, more numbers. Less ideology, more interoperability.

Whether the community embraces that reality or fights it, the next chapter for Cardano is already being written—in Bitcoin.

At the time of writing, ADA is sitting at $0.64.