Cardano Community Lashes Out on Messari for Excluding $20 Billion Network From Report

The Cardano community has called out market research firm Messari for excluding the layer-1 network in a prominent report on the state of the blockchain ecosystem.

Blockchain market research firm Messari has come under fire from the Cardano community. At the heart of the argument is Messari’s seventh annual Crypto Thesis report released earlier this week. The report, a widely read resource, notably excluded a mention of Cardano.

Cardano’s conspicuous omission was quickly flagged by the community, many of whom considered it evidence of the media being biased against the layer-1 blockchain.

For instance, ADA stake pool operator Stake With Pride highlighted mentions given to other crypto projects such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, BNB, and XRP.

Yet, not a single mention of Cardano appeared in the 200-page report, aside from a hyperlink to previous Messari reports about Cardano.

Word count in the 2024 Messari crypto report.

Bitcoin 178
Ethereum 96
Solana 65
BNB 6
XRP 3
Cardano 0#Cardano $ADA https://t.co/JkJqoHGdDJ

— St₳kΣ with Pride 🌈 (@StakeWithPride) December 19, 2023

As the community effort gathered steam, Tamara Haasen, President of Cardano’s Input Output Global (IOHK), chimed in. The key leader demanded an explanation for the omission, slyly acknowledging that Cardano had achieved its current growth levels without media favors.

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Messari CEO Defends Omission of Cardano from Pager on Layer-1s

Messari CEO Ryan Selkis authored the controversial report and lept in defense following the backlash from the Cardano community. Selkis claimed that the decision to not mention Cardano was a “simple math” that involved the economics of the blockchain.

Specifically, he noted that block space on Cardano follows a different model to the one used by other blockchains included in the report.

He described block space as a “commodity product,” arguing that the report merely focused on top networks by economic activity and that Cardano did not meet the criteria.

Additionally, the Messari CEO said the section of the report that covered layer-1s was only 15 pages of the 200-page report.

Hence, several other projects were omitted alongside Cardano. Selkis sought to reassure the community that Messari has always published excellent research about Cardano and will continue to do so.

Meanwhile, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson got in on the act. He expressed appreciation for the present of public spaces where the community could debate issues such as Cardano’s omission for the Messari report. He also noted that Cardano’s vocal community speaks for itself and is a reason why the project deserved a mention.

Notably, the Cardano ecosystem has waxed strong in recent times. TVL on the layer-1 network recently surpassed $400 million for the first time. Such continued growth may evidently earn Cardano a mention in future Messari annual reports.