Cardano Co-Founder Plans Exodus from X to Discord Amidst Online Toxicity
Charles Hoskinson, a co-founder of the Cardano blockchain, has announced plans to transition the ADA community away from the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, following months of enduring what he describes as expletive-laden attacks.
Hoskinson revealed in a late Thursday post on X that he has been in discussions with Phillip Pon, the chief executive of EMURGO, to develop a strategy for establishing a Discord-based hub. This initiative aims to foster a more positive and productive environment for the Cardano ecosystem.
“Dropping by to let everyone know that I spoke with Phillip Pon, and we are working out a plan to create a discord for a great migration of the Cardano community from X,” Hoskinson wrote. He envisions the new platform offering “happy, positive, well-moderated channels,” a stark contrast to what he characterized as the “drama, lies, endless rage, and embittered people” prevalent on X.
Despite his intention to move the community, Hoskinson indicated he would continue to use X for livestreams due to his substantial following, which exceeds one million users.
The blockchain developer also stated that future “Ask Me Anything” sessions would be exclusively hosted on the Cardano and Midnight Discord servers. Midnight is a privacy-focused blockchain protocol developed by IOG.
“I’ve seen some commentary that broadcasting means I’m back on X. For those people, I can’t solve stupid… Enjoy your scandals of the week and FUD,” he commented, dismissing suggestions that his continued use of X for broadcasts signified a change of heart.
This proposed migration comes after months of Hoskinson publicly voicing concerns about the alleged toxicity X has introduced into the Cardano community. In an April 24 YouTube livestream, he mentioned working on an artificial intelligence project named Project Nyx, intended to automate some of his online interactions. However, X’s platform rules, which require AI-managed accounts to be labeled as bots, complicated these plans by potentially reducing post visibility.
Last week, Cardano community member Christian Taylor conducted an analysis of approximately 130 responses to an X post urging users to cease “constant anti-@IOHK_Charles threads.” Taylor’s findings, aided by the AI tool Grok, highlighted two primary issues Hoskinson faces on the platform. Grok identified “raw toxicity,” with roughly one in three replies being hostile, abusive, or heavily profane. The AI also detected patterns of targeted harassment, including consistent linguistic styles, thinly veiled anonymous accounts, and “cross-chain references that point toward organized amplification.”
However, the analysis also acknowledged that some negative comments stemmed from genuine community frustration, including concerns over financial losses, delivery timelines, and questions regarding Cardano’s leadership and their accountability.
In market news, ADA, the native cryptocurrency of Cardano, saw a modest increase of over 3% following Hoskinson’s announcement, trading near $0.17 at the time of reporting. This uptick contrasts with the previous week, when a separate announcement by Hoskinson regarding a temporary break from social media led to an 11% drop in the coin’s value.
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