ADA News: Charles Hoskinson Eyes Governance Overhaul for Cardano Foundation

• Charles Hoskinson wants the Cardano Foundation to move to a location that allows community-driven board elections.
• The current Swiss model is criticized for excluding community input and limiting transparency.

Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano, has called for significant governance reforms within the Cardano Foundation, urging a relocation to jurisdictions such as Abu Dhabi or Wyoming that promote community-driven board elections. In a Dec. 18 post on X, Hoskinson encouraged the Cardano community to question the Foundation’s current board structure and decision-making processes.

Concerns Over Swiss-Based Governance Model

For some reason, Hoskinson was dissatisfied with the current Foundation governance, especially how board members are elected. Founded under Swiss law, the Swiss authorities appoint the board members of the Foundation, and users do not have any voting rights.

Hoskinson has described the Swiss model simply as unfavorable to transparency and accountability. He proposed that moving the Foundation to areas including Abu Dhabi or Wyoming would allow it to develop a governance mechanism that encourages people’s participation, hence enhancing their trust in the Foundation.

“The foundation shouldn’t be in Switzerland,” he said. “It is possible for the Cardano community to introduce with the Cardano Foundation a new structure as in the world with the financial help of the Foundation for this model.”

Hoskinson’s reform program involves ensuring that people in the community are involved in decision-making processes in the structure developed. Some places, such as Abu Dhabi and Wyoming, have legal structures for organizations using DLT that can be adapted to a new governance system.

According to Hoskinson, the Foundation would be credible since users can elect board members; hence, they will be able to hold the Foundation accountable by moving to these regions. He also challenged the community to explore the Foundation’s past decisions and their connection with Intersect, an organization with past Cardiff-related operations.

Governance Challenges and Community Criticism

Created in 2016, the Cardano Foundation has continuously received backlash regarding its governance and management. Specifically, the organization’s foundation in Switzerland has been a major source of conflict currently, as it disregards the community’s consideration in electing the board of directors.

To these criticisms, the Foundation accepted the weakness of its current organizational and legal structure. It noted that a membership-based organizational structure, such as that of a Swiss association, would have better facilitated the participation of community members. While there are now open platforms where people can offer suggestions to achieve organizational transparency, demands for reorganization are rising.

Working conflicts and accusations of excluding crucial members have also added fuel to the fire. To some extent, the Foundation has already tried to respond to the criticism: for example, it held an X Spaces series to discuss its work, but many of the views suggest that much more significant changes are needed to regain trust.

Future Prospects and Community Involvement

This has brought discussions in the Cardano community over moving to a country with laws that allow for equal governance of the company. To change proponents, this is a chance to bring about a different structure of the Foundation and design a governance model based on decentralized principles.

During the discussion, the Foundation’s management felt increasing pressure to adapt the organization’s working process to the population’s needs. Whether such demands will result in tangible changes is still unknown, but Hoskinson’s words stirred the discussion again about Cardano’s governance.