Charles Hoskinson has urged Cardano’s governance representatives to back a crucial research funding proposal, warning that rejecting it could undercut one of the network’s defining strengths: its identity as a research-led blockchain. Speaking from England in a May 21 livestream, Hoskinson framed the vote as a make-or-break moment for Cardano’s long-term strategy. “We’re in treasury season,” he said, noting the ecosystem is seeking roughly $52 million in funding this year — down from about $98 million last year — after a round of cuts that have already affected engineers and community teams. “Many people have had to make profound sacrifices,” he said. “Good people have had to go. Engineers have been let go. Community teams liquidating familiar faces and new faces alike.” The proposal drawing the most heat, he said, is the request to fund Cardano’s research group — a program he described as the “spine and backbone” of the project. Hoskinson warned he has seen a “disturbing trend” of some DReps voting against that funding, arguing such a move would hollow out the network’s competitive advantage as “the science coin” and “the research coin.” Over the past decade, Hoskinson noted, Cardano has invested heavily in academic-driven development: “Hundreds of millions of dollars has been spent, and countless hundreds of researchers have been involved in the production of the largest research group in the world for cryptocurrencies.” He pointed to work on proof-of-stake research, the extended UTXO model, Plutus smart-contract tooling, sidechains, and Bitcoin-related DeFi research as concrete outcomes of that effort. He also highlighted partnerships with universities including Stanford, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Wyoming as relationships that aren’t easily rebuilt. Some critics have suggested breaking research funding into smaller, selectable line items so the community can “pick and choose” which projects to support. Hoskinson rejected that approach, arguing it would force short-term, ad-hoc decisions that would fragment and ultimately cripple the research operation. “So then I asked the DReps, which scientists would you like me to fire?” he said, naming several researchers involved in Cardano’s technical work as an example of what would be at stake. A central part of his warning concerned talent retention: if Cardano signals that it no longer values its research teams, better-funded rival ecosystems could poach cryptographers, programming-language experts and distributed-systems researchers. “If you treat these people like commodities, they will leave,” Hoskinson said. “They’ll leave to other ecosystems that have a lot more money and are willing to pay a lot more with better stability and certainty.” He described the loss as a “one-way door” — once top researchers depart, bringing them back would be difficult if not impossible. Hoskinson also tied the vote to market perception and the project’s investment case. Without a clear commitment to research, he suggested, Cardano may be forced to lean more heavily on near-term metrics such as monthly active users, TVL or transaction volume — a strategic shift that could make the chain look more like its competitors. The livestream ended with a direct appeal to undecided and opposing DReps: reconsider the vote and treat the research proposal as foundational, not discretionary. “You can’t walk without a spine,” he said. “Please vote for science. Please vote for the research proposal for IOG. It’s a necessary foundational proposal, and we can’t afford to lose it.” At press time, ADA was trading at $0.2499. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news