Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson said the network's development roadmap is complete and that everything he promised to build has now been built, during a YouTube AMA session on November 13, 2026. The comments came as ADA trades more than 94% below its 2021 all-time high.
The discussion turned heated when a viewer named shevilkid1738 accused Hoskinson of promising that Cardano would overtake Bitcoin. Hoskinson denied the claim, saying he never promised price appreciation or that Cardano would overtake Bitcoin. He added that he believes Cardano is a better store of value than Bitcoin, but said that does not create an obligation to pump investor bags.
Cardano's roadmap was split into five eras: Byron launched the network in September 2017, Shelley added staking in July 2020, Goguen brought smart contracts via the Alonzo hard fork in September 2021, Basho introduced scaling upgrades including Vasil in September 2022, and Voltaire began with the Chang hard fork in September 2024. The Plomin hard fork in January 2025 gave ADA holders real voting power, completing the transition to full decentralized governance.
ADA hit an all-time high of $3.09 in 2021, then fell to about $0.25 in 2023 before rising 384% to $1.21 in late 2024. Since then it has dropped about 86% to roughly $0.17. Hoskinson argued that investors are ultimately asking him to pump their bags, and that such expectations would never have a natural end. He also said his original 2015 development contract with Input Output Global has expired, though Cardano development will continue under new funding plans, including the Leios scaling project and additional applications.
