Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, has shed light on why he opted out of the annual Davos gathering, a high-profile event known for drawing the world’s elite. Instead, Hoskinson chose to attend the World of Concrete expo in Las Vegas, underscoring his personal passion for building, technology, and hands-on innovation.
Cardano Founder Skips WEF In Davos
In his latest livestream, Hoskinson emphasized his multifaceted background, which extends far beyond the realm of crypto: “I do more than just crypto. I actually have multiple companies and I have a regenerative medicine company. […] I’m a bison rancher and I am a contractor indirectly through my company Hoskinson Contracting.”
From concrete technology to regenerative medicine, Hoskinson made clear that his schedule often pulls him in different directions. While the international crypto community convened in Davos and a delegation of his team attended the presidential inauguration, he remained committed to exploring advancements in concrete and construction.
“I go to World of Concrete every year to get a better sense of where the concrete industry is going,”he said. “It’s nice to go to a place where I’m not recognized at all. …[…] It keeps you young and youthful, especially when you take the classes and you get to learn new things.”
According to Hoskinson, Cardano itself has grown so large that it now represents a global and decentralized ecosystem, with different members free to choose their own missions and events. “When you look at Cardano, Cardano has become so big and so versatile that it is a Choose Your Own Adventure,” he noted, adding that some within the Cardano community still attended Davos on behalf of the project’s interests.
In the same breath, Hoskinson highlighted the ongoing technological developments for Cardano, stressing that major changes are happening behind the scenes, including a new Plomin hard fork and the activation of a fresh governance layer: “We’re at 2025; while I’m here, the fork is underway. It’s almost done and in just a few days, Chang+1 is coming, the Plomin hard fork, and that’s going to result in activation in the DReps, which adds an entirely new governance layer to Cardano.”
He also underscored how decentralization allows the Cardano ecosystem to remain resilient and inclusive: “When you’re a Cardano user […] the tent is so big, you will find organizations and people that agree with those particular politics and worldviews, and that’s the way it should be.”
From the vantage point of the concrete convention in Las Vegas, Hoskinson expressed relief to be away from black-tie galas: “I can think of no greater hell than attending some of these formal events. I’m utterly useless at them because I just reject the notion of them.”
Yet, he acknowledged the necessity of having representatives who excel in diplomatic settings: “There are other people that are chameleons, and they can step into those environments […] they’re very good at diplomacy and never saying what they actually mean.”
Despite being physically absent from Davos, Hoskinson’s broader vision for Cardano remains pointed squarely at global impact. He reiterated that the purpose of the network goes well beyond conventional cryptocurrency aims: “I didn’t build a cryptocurrency for the purpose of having a cryptocurrency. I built it as the layer for the world to use to change its political, economic, and social system. It’s the place where the voting happens; it’s the place where the money lives.”
With a nod to the transformative changes coming in the next decade—from artificial intelligence to advancements in blockchain—Hoskinson urged the community to remain committed to open dialogue, collaboration, and innovation.
Hoskinson also touched on the challenges facing the global financial system, referencing past crises and the need for a more transparent monetary framework that benefits everyone: “That’s why crypto exists. Iit is the people’s money. In such a short period of time, we’ve gone from the rebels and the criminals to being welcomed with open arms at the highest echelons of power.”
He painted the next 12 months as crucial for Cardano, with a focus on scalability (via solutions like Hydra and Leios) and integrating essential components such as stablecoins and oracles: “Yes, it’s going to be expensive and time-consuming, and there are going to be things that we don’t like or admire. The difference between us and all the other ones is, we make that decision together, and we make it out in the open.”
Looking ahead, he teased Hydro Doom—an event at the HyperX Arena in Las Vegas—and the upcoming debates around Cardano’s permanent constitution and ecosystem-wide budgets as major milestones. “We’ve got the DReps, we’ve got the Constitutional Committee, we’ve got the interim Constitution, and we get to have our first real big fight: the permanent constitution and the budget. And after that, we will conquer the world.”
At press time, ADA traded at $0.98.
