Why Is Hoskinson Furious at One of Cardano’s Own Influencers?

Charles Hoskinson publicly demands an apology from Cardano influencer ItsDave_ADA after Dave slams the Midnight Network bridge setup and its impact on Cardano.

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson went public with a sharp demand on April 1, 2026. He called out well-known community voice Dave, known on X as ItsDave_ADA, after Dave posted a pointed critique of the Midnight Network and how it interacts with the Cardano chain.

Dave did not hold back. He stated on X that he was “starting to really hate Midnight and the way they are approaching things,” adding that he planned to shift his focus toward investigating the project. His concern centered on the bridge design. Specifically, only a one-way trustless bridge from Cardano into Midnight exists at launch. The reverse path, from Midnight back to Cardano, is not trustless and can reportedly be delayed, censored, or have fees forced on users.

The Post That Started It All

Hoskinson fired back the same day. Posting on X as IOHK_Charles, he wrote that “the largest project on Cardano, which will add billions of dollars in value to Cardano, is being treated this way.” He drew a direct comparison to a previous community figure referred to as Whale, suggesting Dave’s attitude, if allowed to continue, would destroy Cardano. He closed by demanding a public apology.

Dave responded by saying he was confused about what exactly he was supposed to apologize for. In a follow-up post on X, he asked Hoskinson to clarify precisely how billions of dollars would flow into Cardano through Midnight, arguing the design actually pulls value from Cardano into Midnight instead.

Community account CSWAP_Destroy stepped in to defend Hoskinson on X. They argued the Midnight-Cardano relationship is meant to be symbiotic and that Hoskinson has invested tremendous personal resources into building the project. They also drew the Whale comparison themselves, warning the community against repeating a pattern of driving out key voices through negativity.

The Bridge Debate Gets Technical

The core of Dave’s argument is the asymmetric bridge. He pointed out that the trustless path runs only in one direction at launch. That design, in his view, speaks volumes about the true relationship between the two chains. Later in the thread, Dave clarified his concern is not anti-Midnight but pro-Cardano. He said he had been defending and thanking Hoskinson for years.

NisargaCrypto on X suggested Dave may have taken a bribe to spread negativity. Dave rejected that framing flatly, saying his concerns were genuine and rooted in Cardano’s decentralized principles. SpentronSpence sided with Dave on X, warning that the pattern of dismissing and isolating independent voices is a recurring problem in the Cardano community.

Not everyone agreed with Dave’s read, though. ZIMcoinADA told him his view looked “quite short-sighted,” arguing Midnight was already drawing fresh eyes back to Cardano. Varavas9 pushed back harder on X, telling Dave the community had added the last missing piece to the industry and shouldn’t be debating itself. sergiu_cazan told Dave he was “missing the forest for the trees.”

What the Community Is Actually Saying

The split reaction says a lot. Some backed Hoskinson firmly. Others saw his apology demand as overly aggressive, even from someone who has built as much as he has.

_wdm33 put it plainly on X. Dave had nothing to apologize for, they wrote, adding that the entire point of decentralized systems is to question everything. apocaliptist went further, accusing Hoskinson of wanting to use community money to pump Midnight for personal gain, though that claim drew no supporting evidence in the thread.

ada_ddy offered a more balanced take on X. Dave was right to question the bridge setup, they said, but calling it foul play against the people who built Cardano was a step too far. peaceKaur asked Hoskinson to directly address how Midnight’s success would increase ADA’s value, calling it the real underlying question in the whole dispute.

The Midnight Network launched its mainnet in late March 2026, as covered here, with backers including Google Cloud, Worldpay, and MoneyGram among its first validators. Hoskinson has personally put around $200 million into the project. The bridge design Dave criticized is not permanent, but no firm timeline for a bidirectional trustless path has been publicly confirmed.

As of publication, no apology had been issued.