Charles Hoskinson, the Co-Founder and CEO of IOHK (the company that is responsible for the research and development of the Cardano protocol), has responded to Weiss Crypto Ratings’ critique of a recent partnership.
On August 24, Cardano Foundation, which is “an independent Swiss-based non-profit that oversees and supervises the advancement of Cardano”, announced that it had selected the RegTech and blockchain analytics firm Coinfirm to “enhance the security of the crypto and blockchain economy”.
The press release went on to say that “by deploying advanced AML/CFT analytics, this partnership will ensure that Cardano is able to be in full compliance with the FATF’s (Financial Action Task Force) guidelines, 6AMLD and other supranational and national regulations”.
Mel McCann, Head of Technical Integrations at Cardano Foundation, had this to say:
“AML/CFT analytics is essential for a cryptocurrency to receive mass adoption within regulated markets. The tools and services provided by Coinfirm enables every exchange, custodian, and all other third-parties to clearly track the history of ada held in their wallets.
“We are proud to work with Coinfirm due to their high quality results and product offerings as the first analytics solution live on the Cardano blockchain, the partnership with Coinfirm represents our continued dedication to supporting the adoption of the Cardano blockchain.“
In a series of tweets published on August 25, Weiss Crypto Ratings criticized Cardano Foundation for partnering with Coinfirm.
Weiss accused Cardano of following in the footsteps of the banking system by agreeing to excessive regulations, a move the agency said led to being “choked to death.”
The ratings agency said Cardano’s decision brought Cardano closer to being a “censorship-prone, politicized, and manipulated” network. Weiss argued individual projects, rather than entire decentralized networks such as Cardano, should be liable for regulatory compliance.
In reply, Hoskinson posted a video to Twitter, saying the partnership with Coinfirm provided greater clarity for the market and Cardano users.
According to a report by The Daily Hodl, Hoskinson said:
“The point and the purpose has always been building in layers, building modules, building ecosystems.
“So while the base layer of the system doesn’t care if you’re from the United States or China, Japan, wherever, what you can do is add identity and metadata, and all kinds of other things, and those other things give you the ability to be in compliance with your business domain, regulated or otherwise.
“And that’s the reason these partnerships are important. They provide clarity. They provide a lot of business and technical requirements, and they allow us to make the software better for everyone everywhere, and Cardano to get more adoption in all industries, regulated and unregulated.“
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed by the author, or any people mentioned in this article, are for informational purposes only, and they do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice. Investing in or trading cryptoassets comes with a risk of financial loss.
