In an Ask Me Anything session on April 23, Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano (ADA) and co-founder of Ethereum (ETH), stirred the crypto community with a bold claim: Ethereum may not survive beyond 2035.
One of Hoskinson’s predictions focused on Ethereum’s scaling strategy and its growing reliance on layer two solutions, which he described as “parasitic.” According to him, rather than reinforcing Ethereum’s core network, these networks are draining its value and cohesion.
The founder identifies a stark divergence in outcomes between the two platforms. “It’ll be awesome in three to five years for Cardano, but at Ethereum’s scale and size, it’ll take five to seven years to build. So I don’t think Ethereum will survive… In ten to fifteen years, the layer twos will continue to suckle out all.”
He added that as internal struggles mount, people will start fighting, and it’ll get harder and harder for Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s founder, to hold it together through sheer force of will. Ultimately, he believes users will “gradually migrate to other places.” The inherent economic incentives, he argued, make it nearly impossible to untangle Ethereum from its increasingly complex ecosystem of third-party layers.
Foundational Flaws in Ethereum
Hoskinson didn’t mince words when asked what he would do differently if he were running the Ethereum Foundation, pointing to what he labelled as three major self-inflicted wounds. First, he criticized Ethereum’s choice of underlying protocols, charging the platform with embracing an inadequate accounting model, inefficient virtual machine, and dysfunctional consensus mechanism, decisions he believes set Ethereum off on the wrong path despite early warnings.
Second, he aimed at Ethereum’s reliance on what he called “band-aid solutions,” arguing that efforts such as the addition of layer two networks, implementing slashing economics, and applying workaround mechanisms have only added complexity without addressing fundamental issues head-on. “They really don’t have a good on-chain governance system,” Hoskinson argued, which he believes stifles Ethereum’s capacity to evolve effectively and unify its community.
In comparison, Hoskinson highlighted Cardano’s approach to scalability, which he claims is fundamentally more sustainable. “That’s why we thought a lot about how to build a layer two ecosystem on Cardano that’s non-parasitic,” he said, referencing projects like Midnight and Hydra that aim to enhance the base layer without weakening it.
Furthermore, he pointed to Cardano’s technological infrastructure as a blueprint for sustainable blockchain development. He described Cardano’s proof-of-stake consensus algorithm as a more efficient and future-oriented alternative, avoiding many of the problems he perceives with Ethereum.
At the architectural level, he mentioned Cardano’s implementation of the RISC-V virtual machine, which supports a modular and future-proof design philosophy. Hoskinson also mentioned Cardano’s emphasis on on-chain governance with initiatives like Voltaire and Midgard that aim to address governance problems that Ethereum continues to struggle with.
Currently, Ethereum has lost 3.7% in the past 24 hours and now trades at $1,728.
Cardano has also lost 4.96% of its value in the same time frame to be priced at $0.6716.