Charles Hoskinson, CEO at Input Output HK (IOHK), a research and development (R&D) company focused on the development of cryptographic algorithms and distributed systems, has said that the Ethereum Classic (ETC) project may indirectly help the Ethereum (ETH) network by allowing it to more easily transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS)-based consensus.
Hoskinson, an analytics and number theory dropout from the University of Colorado, Boulder, has also been critical of how Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin had been running various crypto-related businesses. Hoskinson’s comments came during his interview on The Thriller podcast (on March 2nd, 2019) in which he claimed that Brooklyn, New York-based ConsenSys, an Ethereum-related development studio, was only launched because Lubin “has a lot of f**king Ether (ETH).”
ConsenSys Was “A Market Grab”
Referring to the ConsenSys project as “the ‘make Joe Lubin rich’ fund”, Hoskinson argued that the company’s growth never appeared to be sustainable and that the whole idea behind ConsenSys was just a “a market grab.” Moreover, Hoskinson believes ConsenSys was not established according to sound business strategies.
The Cardano (ADA) co-founder claims that ConsenSys was launched on the assumption that the price of Ethereum’s native token, Ether (ETH) would continue to increase. Despite the decline in Ethereum’s market capitalization, which has seen the price of ETH fall from its all-time high of about $1,300 in late January 2018 to currently around $130, Hoskinson still believes the ConsenSys project has played a key role in Ethereum’s ongoing development.
Commenting on San Francisco-based crypto exchange, Coinbase’s recent acquisition of controversial blockchain analytics firm Neutrino, Hoskinson said that it was important for a company as large and as established as Coinbase to ensure its services adhere to appropriate regulatory guidelines.
Hoskinson Believes Crypto Prices Might Not Recover For Another 11 Years
In early February 2019, Hoskinson revealed that he had joined Endor, a predictive analytics firm. Explaining his role at Endor, Hoskinson said he would be advising Endor on matters related to using crypto and blockchain-related technology to further improve and expand the different services offered by the analytics company.
Earlier in January, Hoskinson had said (at the Crypto Finance Conference) that it could take at least “11 years” for cryptocurrency prices to recover to the levels seen in late 2017 – when the market capitalization of the digital asset market surpassed the $800 billion mark. Speaking to Cointelegraph at the Crypto Finance Conference, Hoskinson remarked:
[About a decade later,] we will be a dramatically different ecosystem at that point. We'll have millions, perhaps even billions of users. We will be in many consumer products, be easy to use, [and even] grandma [would be able to] use it. A lot of the hard stuff will have been figured out. Like if somebody dies, how do we get their private keys, how do we handle taxes, all of the regulation will be done.
