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Is Cardano a ‘wannabe Ethereum?’ What Hayes, Hoskinson have to say

Former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes stirred controversy by labelling Cardano as “wannabe Ethereum" and questioning its relevance.

Arthur Hayes jabs on Cardano
  • Hayes raised questions on the network’s potential to build successful dApps.
  • Cardano’s market cap to TVL ratio was one of the highest in the space.

Bitcoin [BTC] proponent and co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange BitMeX Arthur Hayes ruffled few feathers by using unsavory terms for popular blockchain Cardano [ADA].

Hayes attacks Cardano again

In a controversial X post that has gone viral, the American entrepreneur raised questions on the potential of the network to produce effective natively-built decentralized apps (dApps).

“What dApp on this list originally launched on Cardano, or has a Cardano offering that is heavily used?,” Hayes asked after attaching a snippet of the most successful Web3 projects in the last year.

In what looked like a tongue-in-cheek remark, Bitcoin billionaire even asked founder Charles Hoskinson to educate him about Cardano network’s accomplishments.

Charles Hoskinson’s reply

The bait was taken as Hoskinson responded. He asked Hayes the reason behind him detesting Cardano. Hoskinson even said that he admired Hayes as a person.

In response, Hayes indicated that his disdain for Cardano was not personal, and that he also admired Hoskinson. But Hayes continued to use harsh words for Cardano.

Well, it wasn’t the first instance of Arthur Hayes throwing a shade at Cardano. During a recent interview with Coin Bureau, he labeled Cardano as a “wannabe Ethereum” and its relevance in the blockchain space.

Did Hayes have a point?

Over the years, Cardano’s DeFi growth has lagged well behind its market cap increase, as per AMBCrypto’s analysis of DeFiLlama data.

As of this writing, the total value locked (TVL) on the chain was just $460 million, much less than chains on the same pedestal in terms of popularity. This despite a 147% jump in the last four months.

Cardano DeFi TVL
Source: DeFiLlama

Read ADA’s Price Prediction 2024-25


Cardano’s market cap to TVL ratio was one of the highest in the space, suggesting a highly overvalued asset. Put simply, the native asset ADA didn’t justify its high market cap.

Typically, such projects are less appealing to investors since they offer less scope for growth. As of this writing, ADA was exchanging hands at $0.59, dropping 6.68% in the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap.

Disclaimer: AMBCrypto's content is meant to be informational in nature and should not be interpreted as investment advice. Trading, buying or selling cryptocurrencies should be considered a high-risk investment and every reader is advised to do their own research before making any decisions.

Aniket Verma works as a journalist at AMBCrypto. Contrary to most who are primarily interested in merely tracking price movements of cryptos, his focus is on examining the niche intersection between cryptocurrencies and traditional finance. A so-so Bitcoin maximalist, Aniket has a strong disdain for memecoins and the unfounded frenzy they seem to generate every market season. Coming from a strong engineering background, Aniket previously worked as a Content Manager for TV9 Network. Before his stint over there, he was an Associate Multimedia News Producer at Reuters.

AMBCrypto was founded in 2018 with a mission to simplify and bring the latest blockchain and cryptocurrency news to our readers. We have quickly grown into the digital news source for an emerging generation of cryptocurrency enthusiasts, reaching more than a million readers on a monthly basis, across the globe.