- Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson proposes converting $100 million in ADA to the USDM stablecoin to boost Cardano’s DeFi activity.
- He believes the move could generate up to $10 million annually and revitalize the ecosystem.
Cardano’s founder Charles Hoskinson has proposed a bold strategy that could reshape the network’s decentralized finance (DeFi) landscape—by converting $100 million worth of ADA from the Cardano treasury into USDM, a Cardano-native stablecoin.
The proposal aims to unlock liquidity, boost market activity, and potentially generate between $5 million and $10 million in annual returns for the Cardano ecosystem. These earnings could then cycle back into the treasury, supporting development and innovation.
$100 Million to Light the Cardano DeFi Fire
In a recent AMA, Hoskinson called Cardano’s $650M treasury a dormant asset that should fuel ecosystem growth. “We could convert a hundred million ADA into USDM, put financial infrastructure behind it, and start building up trading, market-making, and total value locked in the Cardano ecosystem,” he said.
USDM, issued by Mehen, is fully backed 1:1 with U.S. dollars and operates entirely on-chain. Anchoring ADA into USDM could give Cardano liquidity similar to ecosystems like Ethereum and solana.
Hoskinson’s vision hinges on a sustainable feedback loop: earn passive income by providing stablecoin liquidity, use those earnings to buy back ADA, and rebuild the treasury. This mechanism, he argues, could deliver a 5–10% annual yield while supporting the broader Cardano DeFi infrastructure.
Friction Within the Community
Despite the potential, Hoskinson didn’t hide his frustration with what he sees as community hesitance. He criticized the community for largely underutilizing Intersect, a decentralized governance framework designed to support such initiatives.
“Intersect was set up to give you guys the freedom to do exactly these types of things,” he noted, urging the community to take a more proactive stance.
Missed Chances, Future Hope
Hoskinson also highlighted missed opportunities, such as failing to onboard USDC through a partnership with Circle. According to him, that oversight may have set Cardano back in the race to dominate the stablecoin space.
Still, he remains optimistic. Hoskinson believes VC support from firms like a16z or Pantera could help launch a self-sustaining DeFi ecosystem on Cardano.
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