According to U.Today, Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, has recently shared his views on the ongoing controversy surrounding Ripple and its digital asset, XRP. The discussion began when Hoskinson was asked to apologize to the Ripple team and the XRP community. He responded by citing instances where his comments were misunderstood, leading to extended public scrutiny and harassment, including calls for his legal consequences based on unproven corruption allegations.
At the heart of the issue is a conspiracy theory that accuses the SEC of favoring Ethereum over Ripple. Hoskinson has strongly denied these allegations, describing them as baseless speculations without solid evidence. He previously highlighted Ethereum's humble beginnings with an $18 million initial coin offering, suggesting that regulatory leniency during its early stages might have been influenced by undisclosed factors such as personal relationships and informal agreements.
Despite recognizing the regulatory differences between Ethereum and Ripple, Hoskinson categorically denied the idea of Ethereum manipulating SEC actions against Ripple and XRP. He stressed the separate operational areas of the two entities, stating that they do not directly compete in the same smart contract space.
It's worth mentioning that Hoskinson's viewpoint on the issue is shaped not only by his role as the founder of Cardano but also by his past association with Ethereum. In late 2013, Charles Hoskinson was one of the five original founders of the Ethereum team alongside Vitalik Buterin. However, in 2014, Buterin and the Ethereum team decided to remove Hoskinson from his position within the organization.