Cardano's leadership has issued a dual call for a fundamental industry reset while predicting a market rebound fueled by quiet DeFi development. In a series of public statements, Cardano Foundation CTO Giorgio Zinetti and founder Charles Hoskinson analyzed the current market downturn and outlined a path forward for 2026.
Zinetti pointed to specific market metrics indicating a potential bottom. He noted that Bitcoin active addresses have hit a 12-month low, signaling decreased network activity, while Bitcoin miner revenue has dropped by 20% from Q3 levels. Furthermore, Bitcoin's price has fallen over 32% in the 70 days since its all-time high of $126,198. Zinetti attributes the current quiet period to a shift in attention toward Artificial Intelligence (AI), arguing that this allows the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector to build without hype. "Everyone's talking about AI. Nobody's talking about DeFi. That's…" he posted on X, suggesting that the "best DeFi protocols of 2026" are being built now and could fuel a major rebound.
Echoing the need for foundational work, Charles Hoskinson delivered a blunt year-end diagnosis in a Dec. 15 livestream titled "Some End of Year Thoughts." He described 2025 as "a really [expletive] up year" and "a donkey of a year," criticizing the market for losing its retail engine and drifting into speculative narratives. Hoskinson argued that institutional capital failed to rotate into altcoins, breaking the traditional "trickle down effect" seen in prior cycles. He also lamented the industry's entanglement with political memecoins like TRUMP and MELANIA, which he called "cash grab situations" that damaged broader reputation.
The core problem, according to Hoskinson, is a broken trust with retail investors. "Retail showed up in 2021… and then they got screwed again and again and again," he stated. "And now you want them to come back so you can do it again. Will they? No." His solution is a 2026 "reset" to first principles, with less reliance on governments or large investors. "No government is coming to save us. No large company is coming to save us. No large investor is coming to save us," Hoskinson declared. "We are on the island." He tied this reset to a need for systems that provide agency and ownership in a world he fears is drifting toward a "dystopian hellscape" due to AI and robotics.
Hoskinson admitted to his own missed predictions, including his expectation that Bitcoin would reach $250,000 in 2025. "I honestly believed [Bitcoin] would be back in December of 2024. Because I believed that Trump would be good for crypto. I was wrong," he conceded. However, he expressed belief in a path for recovery in 2026, anchored by concrete ecosystem developments like the launch of Midnight and a return to building. "The bullshit's over," he said. "We're back to work… in 2026 it's a return to first principles."
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