Thomas Braziel, CEO of crypto investment and advisory firm 117 Partners, has escalated his call for transparency from Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson, demanding the public release of all contracts, approvals, and payment records tied to 1,096 Bitcoin originally held by the Manxem Foundation on behalf of the Cardano Foundation. The request follows Hoskinson’s explanation during a recent AMA that the BTC was used in 2016 and 2017 to settle audit procedures and demands related to Michael Parsons, the foundation’s former board chairman.
Braziel acknowledged that Hoskinson’s account may address part of the timeline, but argued it does not resolve the core questions. “The question was never whether audits cost money. The question was where 1,096 BTC went, who received it, and why,” he posted on X. He specifically pressed for invoices, agreements, and payment records, noting that the audit costs alone do not align with the total amount of Bitcoin involved, especially when considering Bitcoin’s significantly lower price at the time of the earliest fundraising rounds.
The dispute adds to broader governance tensions within the Cardano ecosystem. Hoskinson has recently proposed shifting community discussions from X to Discord, while a $7.8 million ADA treasury proposal for the Cardano 2026 Summit was rejected, leading to the event’s cancellation. Separately, the CEO of Anvil claimed he “lost everything” after going all-in on ADA, highlighting personal financial risk within the community.
The controversy raises fundamental fiduciary and accountability concerns, particularly as the Cardano Foundation held only a fraction of the raised Bitcoin while IOHK controlled approximately 95% of the funds and subsequently received billions of ADA tokens. Braziel’s public push for documentation, combined with private contacts from former employees, suggests the community may no longer accept verbal assurances alone, potentially inviting regulatory scrutiny if gaps in governance persist.
