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- Audit clears Hoskinson as accusations collapse under detailed probe, billions of ADA handled transparently.
- Price still drifts despite a clean report, ADA hovering at $0.81 with technical resistance looming.
A newly released forensic audit has cleared Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson of all charges tied to the ADA voucher program. The 128-page report was prepared by BDO, together with McDermott, Will & Schulte, after months of investigation into claims made against the project.
The audit examined Cardano’s 2021 Allegra hard fork, the voucher program, and the flow of unredeemed ADA. Critics had claimed hidden code was embedded during the upgrade, accusing Hoskinson of manipulating the blockchain. He denied those accusations but pressed for an external audit to settle the matter.
The investigation began in May after Input Output Global (IOG), Cardano’s development company, hired the two firms to examine voucher redemptions, sales practices, and whether unredeemed ADA had been misused or stolen.
🚨 BREAKING: Independent audit dispels Cardano Voucher FUD.
Law firm McDermott Will & Emery and accounting firm BDO conclude:
• 99.7% of all ADA sold via vouchers redeemed
• No evidence of insider theft or misuse
• Allegations of deception or targeting the elderly unfounded pic.twitter.com/aypXLxKays— TapTools (@TapTools) September 3, 2025
Findings Confirm Legal Handling of ADA
Investigators reviewed thousands of internal documents, checked both on-chain and off-chain data, and interviewed 18 IOG employees. The report concluded that the allegations were groundless and assured that the ADA-linked vouchers had been handled legally.
The report showed 14,282 vouchers were redeemed, equal to 25,850,401,508 ADA, or about 25.9 billion tokens. That made up 99.2% of all ADA first sold with vouchers. By the end of the Byron era, 97% were already used, reaching 99.2% by August 15, 2025.
Investigators found no evidence of insider misuse, theft, or deleted private keys. Instead, they added that the remaining ADA was moved in 2023 to Cardano Development Holdings, an entity based in the Cayman Islands. Those funds were allocated to continuity agreements, Intersect-funded community initiatives, and ecosystem development.
In its conclusion, the report stated,
Overall, the Investigation demonstrated that Input Output and Sawyers acted diligently and created structured safeguards to ensure manual redemptions and responsible governance of funds.
Hoskinson Demands Apology from Critics
Hoskinson reacted to the findings by urging his critics to apologize publicly. In his view, the audit report had resolved the charges and brought confidence back in how the program for vouchers was governed. He wrote,
Waiting for the apologies to come rolling in…
Waiting for the apologies to come rolling in… pic.twitter.com/0B9U0XOsHr
— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) September 3, 2025
Despite the successful conclusion of the audit, the price of ADA has not shown any progress. At present, ADA stands at $0.81, decreased by 1.44% in the past 24 hours. On shorter timeframes, it remains within the down channel that has developed since August 13.
Technical analysis indicates that a bullish break above the 20-day EMA around $0.84 will spark a surge towards $0.96 or even $1.02. If resistance prevails, traders risk the price testing support near $0.68.
