Michael Saylor Calls Cardano A Security; Charles Hoskinson Responds

<div><p><em>Bitcoin cheerleader Michael Saylor called Cardano a security, so obviously, Charles Hoskinson had to say something about that.</em></p> <h2>Covered</h2> <ul><li>Saylor Says Cardano Is A Security; Charles Hoskinson Responds</li> <li>Hoskinson: Is Cardano A Security?</li> <li>Is Bitcoin Actually A Commodity?</li> </ul><h2>Saylor Says Cardano Is A Security; Charles Hoskinson Responds</h2> <p>During an appearance on Altcoin Daily, Michael Saylor let it be known that he thinks Cardano is “obviously” a security in comparison to Bitcoin. <a title="Who is Michael Saylor?" href="https://cryptosrus.com/who-is-michael-saylor/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Saylor is the CEO of Microstrategy</a>, a tech company heavily invested in Bitcoin. The CEO has stated many times in the past he believes Bitcoin is a commodity.</p> <p>Saylor’s belief here isn’t exactly an unpopular opinion. Many, including the chair of the SEC and Bitcoin maxis, share Saylor’s point of view. Not necessarily around Cardano so much, just “altcoins” in general.</p><p>The “Bitcoin Is A Commodity” thesis centers around the fact that Bitcoin wasn’t premined like many of the altcoins that have come after it. Moreover, many altcoins like Cardano take on aspects of a tech company, which present potential regulatory issues.</p> <p>“To be a commodity network, there has to be no issuer, no initial coin offering (ICO), no central organization and if you study the history of Cardano, it’s pretty obvious it’s a security. It checks all the boxes…” Saylor said.</p> <p lang="en" dir="ltr">Charles Hoskinson says Michael Saylor’s head is "all fucked up and screwed up" after claiming <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cardano?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cardano</a> is a security. <a href="https://t.co/xQaGniskwg">pic.twitter.com/xQaGniskwg</a></p> <p>— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) <a href="https://twitter.com/WatcherGuru/status/1548379273152516097?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 16, 2022</a></p> <p>Of course, CEO and founder of Cardano Charles Hoskinson caught wind of this and had to chime in. Speaking during a YouTube AMA, Hoskinson pointed out that Cardano has more decentralization and real life use cases, before pointing out that Bitcoin has one use case: speculation.</p><div><p><a href="https://cryptosrus.com/this-is-how-celsius-survives-insolvency/"><img src="https://cryptosrus.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-fastest-cache-premium/pro/images/blank.gif" data-wpfc-original-src="https://cryptosrus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Untitled-design-6-300x166.png" data-wpfc-original-srcset="https://cryptosrus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Untitled-design-6-300x166.png 300w, https://cryptosrus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Untitled-design-6-150x83.png 150w, https://cryptosrus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Untitled-design-6-610x337.png 610w, https://cryptosrus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Untitled-design-6.png 696w" alt="This Is How Celsius Survives Insolvency"></a></p></div> <p>“It’s just one of those cases, he’s d**k deep, full d**k in with Bitcoin. It’s gotta work. If it doesn’t work the way he hopes, he goes bankrupt.”</p> <p>Recommended: <a title="Apparently, Cardano Doesn’t Have A Working DEX Yet" href="https://cryptosrus.com/apparently-cardano-doesnt-have-a-working-dex-yet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apparently, Cardano Doesn’t Have A Working DEX Yet</a></p> <h2>Hoskinson: Is Cardano A Security?</h2> <p>Let’s go over those claims. Not the d**k stuff, just the part about Cardano being a security.</p> <p>In all honestly, Cardano could be considered a security. But that’s just because the Howey Test is vague — also, outdated.</p> <p>Sure, Cardano kind of quacks like a tech company with its corporate structure. In addition, the ICO is certainly problematic, too. But, you could also argue that the Howey Test was created in an era where you didn’t have security-like assets that could also function as a unit of exchange. What good is a test if it’s outmoded?</p> <p>That said, Bitcoin also doesn’t have the added burden of being considered a tech company in the same way a Cardano would. It doesn’t have a traditional-sounding corporate structure, nor did it begin with an ICO. However, Bitcoin has added elements to its network that could be considered centralizing.</p> <p>For example, decisions like creating the layer-2 Lightning Network and the Taproot upgrade. On their face, they aren’t anything controversial, but their creation was made possible by a small group of insiders in the Bitcoin world. It’s not exactly as decentralized as Cardano in that regard.</p> <p>Projects building on Cardano make their decisions totally separate from the Cardano team. If you want to do anything on Bitcoin, the cool kids have to ask you to sit with them.</p> <p>Recommended: <a title="Why Microstrategy Can Withstand A Bitcoin Collapse" href="https://cryptosrus.com/why-microstrategy-can-withstand-a-bitcoin-collapse/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Why Microstrategy Can Withstand A Bitcoin Collapse</a></p> <h2>Is Bitcoin Actually A Commodity?</h2> <p>“Frankly, the most difficult, toxic, and useless people to engage with are Bitcoin maximalists,” Charles Hoskinson also said during his AMA. In many ways, he’s not wrong, Bitcoin maxis aren’t intellectually honest and sometimes even delusional — <a href="https://twitter.com/johnkaczur/status/1546850128807460865" target="_blank" rel="noopener">like when they think NATO could be overtaken by hard money</a>.</p> <p>But, Hoskinson isn’t always a totally impartial arbiter either, like when he said Bitcoin is used more for speculation than Cardano. It’s true that, historically, Bitcoin has largely been used as a tool for speculation, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have real world use cases, like Hoskinson claims Cardano has.</p> <p>In fact, many “adult” websites heavily feature Bitcoin for transactions. Same with gambling sites. Moreover, Cardano itself, despite having use cases like NFTs, identification, DeFi, and healthcare, is also used for speculation. See: <a title="ADA Soars To All-Time High Ahead Of Smart Contracts" href="https://cryptosrus.com/ada-soars-to-all-time-high-ahead-of-smart-contracts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cardano hitting all-time highs pre-smart contracts release. </a></p> <p>In other words, this entire exercise is just the pot calling the kettle black. Certainly, it’s understandable because both parties are incentivized financially and legally to argue their case, but for those outside looking in it’s not intellectually honest to really pick one or the other. The definition of what is a security is so broad that it forces any argument on one side to be full of cherry-picked points. A.K.A. the stuff you see on Bitcoin and Cardano Twitter.</p> <p>Until the SEC or the CFTC actually come up with a current definition of what a security offering is, it’s not worth arguing over what is or isn’t a security. Lest you want to lose your mind.</p> <p>Recommended: <a href="https://cryptosrus.com/gary-gensler-asks-crypto-industry-to-come-talk-to-us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gary Gensler Asks Crypto Industry To Come ‘Talk To Us’</a></p> </div>