Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has reignited debate within the ADA community after criticizing users for their lack of participation in the network’s decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. In his recent podcast, Hoskinson openly stated that the community itself is partly responsible for Cardano’s DeFi shortcomings, arguing that total value locked (TVL) on the blockchain would easily reach between $5 billion and $10 billion if users actively supported native platforms.
Cardano’s DeFi Challenge
Despite being one of the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, Cardano continues to trail behind competitors such as Ethereum, Solana, and BNB Chain in DeFi activity. Data from DeFiLlama places Cardano’s TVL around $262 million — far below its potential, according to Hoskinson.
He lamented the gap between Cardano’s technological capability and its actual ecosystem engagement, pointing out that even smaller and newer blockchains have surpassed ADA in DeFi adoption. “How can we convince users of Solana or Ethereum to come and play in our backyard,” he asked, “if our own people and ecosystem aren’t using our DeFi products?”
The founder’s remarks reflect a growing frustration within the Cardano leadership and community. Despite significant technical development and years of infrastructure building, user participation and liquidity within the DeFi sector have remained stagnant.
Hoskinson’s Perspective: The Community Is the Catalyst
Hoskinson’s comments suggest that the problem is not with the technology but with user behavior. He emphasized that the ADA community needs to take responsibility and actively participate in native protocols to build a vibrant DeFi culture.
He identified several potential reasons behind the low adoption rates: limited technical knowledge among users, security concerns, poor user interfaces, and unappealing yields compared to other blockchains. Addressing these factors, Hoskinson said, could dramatically improve participation and strengthen Cardano’s position in the DeFi space.
“If the community was truly engaged, we’d easily be looking at a TVL of $5 to $10 billion,” he noted. That figure, if achieved, would make Cardano the third-largest DeFi ecosystem after Ethereum and Solana.
The Numbers Tell the Story
At present, Ethereum dominates the DeFi landscape with over $84 billion in TVL, followed by Solana with roughly $11 billion. By comparison, Cardano’s $262 million appears minimal, representing less than 0.3% of the total DeFi market.
If Hoskinson’s projection of a $10 billion TVL were realized, it would mark a staggering 3,716% increase from current levels — enough to position Cardano among the top three DeFi networks globally. Such a leap would also signal a massive shift in on-chain activity, liquidity, and protocol engagement across the ADA ecosystem.
Why Cardano’s DeFi Lags Behind
Several factors have contributed to Cardano’s slow DeFi growth. Unlike Ethereum, which enjoyed an early-mover advantage and vast developer support, Cardano’s rollout of smart contracts and DeFi capabilities came relatively late — only beginning in earnest after the Alonzo upgrade in 2021.
Furthermore, the ecosystem has struggled with fragmented liquidity and lower yields compared to competitors. Many DeFi users continue to prefer chains with established liquidity pools, large stablecoin volumes, and integrated cross-chain protocols. Cardano’s slower pace of adoption has also been influenced by its more rigorous development approach — prioritizing peer-reviewed code and formal verification over rapid experimentation.
While this focus ensures higher security and long-term sustainability, it has limited the chain’s ability to attract speculative capital or high-frequency users who often drive early DeFi momentum.
The Call for Change
Hoskinson’s message comes at a time when Cardano developers are working to strengthen the network’s DeFi appeal. Several ecosystem initiatives aim to bridge liquidity from Bitcoin and XRP onto Cardano, potentially unlocking new sources of capital.
Projects like Indigo Protocol, Minswap, and Liqwid Finance are gradually expanding Cardano’s DeFi landscape by offering decentralized lending, synthetic assets, and yield-generating products. However, user participation remains limited compared to what the ecosystem’s size and community suggest it could achieve.
Some community members echoed Hoskinson’s remarks, admitting that while Cardano has the user base and financial power to build a robust DeFi system, most ADA holders prefer to stake rather than engage in lending, liquidity provision, or yield farming.
A comment from one community user summarized the sentiment: “We have the tools, capital, and infrastructure, but not the drive. If ADA holders used DeFi as actively as they stake, Cardano would be among the top ecosystems by TVL.”
Toward a More Engaged Ecosystem
The Cardano founder’s criticism appears intended as a wake-up call rather than a rebuke. His appeal to the community highlights a fundamental principle of decentralized ecosystems — that technology alone cannot sustain growth without active participation.
To achieve his projected $5–10 billion TVL, Cardano will need a combination of factors: improved user experience, better education for newcomers, stronger incentives for liquidity providers, and ongoing technical refinement.
Developers across the ecosystem have also been focusing on interoperability. Cardano’s upcoming enhancements — including Hydra scaling and sidechain developments — aim to make DeFi transactions faster, cheaper, and more attractive for both retail and institutional participants.
The Broader Implications
Hoskinson’s remarks also reflect a broader reality in the DeFi industry: community engagement often determines the success or failure of a protocol. While Ethereum and Solana have benefited from highly active user communities and developer enthusiasm, Cardano’s more cautious approach may have inadvertently slowed momentum.
However, the founder remains optimistic. With major upgrades in progress and cross-chain DeFi initiatives gaining traction, Cardano could still catch up. Hoskinson’s challenge to the ADA community may serve as the catalyst needed to spark a new phase of growth.
As the crypto market prepares for its next major cycle, a more unified and active Cardano community could transform the network’s DeFi outlook. Whether that translates into the $10 billion TVL Hoskinson envisions depends on whether users choose to “play in their own backyard” — and help realize the full potential of one of the most ambitious blockchain projects in existence.
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