Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has ended speculation that the Cardano Treasury will fund exchange listing fees for ecosystem projects.
In a direct statement posted on X, he confirmed that both SNEK and Midnight must raise their own funds.
SNEK, Cardano’s primary memecoin, had requested 5 million ADA from the treasury to cover the costs of a Tier 1 exchange listing, targeting platforms such as Hyperliquid. Top exchanges charge listing fees ranging from $100,000 to $500,000. Hoskinson said projects must treat such expenses as commercial costs and fund them independently.
Although Hoskinson is directly involved in developing Midnight, he confirmed the project must secure its own listing capital. The announcement came as Cardano’s native token (ADA to USD) traded at $0.741, up 2.3% on the day.
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Treasury Funds Reserved for Cardano’s Core Network Upgrades
While rejecting the listing requests, Hoskinson noted that the treasury remains a resource for public infrastructure. The Cardano community recently approved funding for Input Output Engineering (IOE), the protocol’s main development team. The budget will support upgrades including Ouroboros Leios, a refined proof‑of‑stake mechanism designed to boost efficiency; Hydra, a layer 2 solution aimed at faster and cheaper transactions; and Project Acropolis, a governance framework to increase modularity and transparency.
Ricky Rand, general manager at IOE, said the decision demonstrated how decentralized funding can work at scale. He described the approval as a vote of confidence in Cardano’s roadmap and stressed that milestone‑based oversight would guide the release of funds.
This is not the first time Cardano’s treasury policies have faced scrutiny. The community rejected a recent proposal to convert part of the treasury into stablecoins, citing risks of centralization and potential harm to the ecosystem. The latest decision continues this pattern of careful treasury management.
Repayable Bond Model Proposed as Alternative for Projects
While rejecting grant-style requests, Hoskinson suggested an alternative structure: a repayable bond model. Under this system, projects could receive ADA loans from the treasury and return the funds once they generate revenue. This approach, he argued, would allow ecosystem projects to access funding without compromising accountability or fairness.
The bond idea follows an earlier attempt to convert part of Cardano’s sovereign wealth fund into stablecoins. The community rejected it, citing centralization risks and exposure concerns. The bond model aims to sidestep those concerns while still offering ecosystem support.
Cardano’s decision follows Ethereum and Solana projects that typically raise their own listing funds, while Polkadot’s community treasury, like Cardano’s, focuses on infrastructure and protocol upgrades rather than commercial fees.
Despite the funding setback, the project’s Midnight Glacier Drop airdrop is expected to be detailed at the Rare Evo conference later this quarter.