Charles Hoskinson Explains Crypto’s ‘Cooperative Equilibrium’ Problem

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson thinks the biggest challenge facing cryptocurrency growth is the lack of a cooperative equilibrium. Hoskinson made the statement during a recent , where he discussed issues affecting the broader cryptocurrency industry, including blockchain interoperability, synthetic biology, quantum computing, and several other critical elements of crypto development.

Hoskinson linked the highlighted challenge to the underlying tokenomics of cryptocurrencies, which makes them intrinsically adversarial.

According to the Cardano founder, the industry has become a zero-sum market where for one entity to succeed, another must suffer. For instance, Bitcoin’s success depends on Ethereum’s failure and vice versa. More generally, he cited how the cryptocurrency’s design targets replacing the banking industry instead of improving it.

According to Hoskinson, the current structure of the cryptocurrency industry is a departure from how the world works. He explained that modern business, geopolitics, religion, and other aspects of global development rely on cooperative equilibrium. The renowned blockchain expert thinks the crypto industry needs to find a way to create a win-win situation between participants within the system and those connected to it from the mainstream.

Despite this core problem, Hoskinson acknowledged the crypto industry’s tremendous success from a growth-hacking perspective. According to him, the explosive user base, which grew from nothing to 550 million users within 15 years, reflects the technology’s success. He also noted that crypto grew from no value to a multi-trillion-dollar ecosystem during this period.

Meanwhile, Hoskinson expressed concern over the non-alignment between cryptocurrency and the Web2 and legacy financial world. He stated that the two ecosystems are not interconnected and interoperable. Therefore, he expects to see bridges and a reset of the incentive layer of the system in the future. According to Hoskinson, such innovations will enable industry participants to earn more by cooperating. That is already happening within the stablecoin ecosystem.