Cardano’s ICO-Era Scandal Roars Back—Will ADA’s Rally Survive the Ghosts of 2017?

Old wounds reopen as Cardano faces renewed scrutiny over its controversial ICO redemption program—just as ADA claws its way up the charts. Critics smell blood; bulls see a buying opportunity.

The ’redemption scandal’—where early investors allegedly got preferential treatment—was supposed to be buried history. Now, it’s back in the spotlight, threatening to derail ADA’s hard-won momentum.

Market reaction? So far, shrugs. ADA’s price action suggests crypto traders care more about tomorrow’s hype than yesterday’s drama—proving once again that in crypto, amnesia is a superpower. (Bonus jab: Wall Street would’ve tanked 20% on this news. Crypto? A 2% dip and a meme.)

ADA’s ‘redemption’ saga

The alleged scandal hit crypto headlines in early May and implicated cardano founder Charles Hoskinson.

According to these claims, the 318 million ADA unclaimed funds were from early, unresponsive ICO (initial coin offering) participants. However, some allege the funds were reportedly repurposed for other uses, raising the ‘scamming’ claims. 

For his part though, Hoskinson dismissed these allegations. The Cardano team absolved itself from any wrongdoing, clarifying that it exhausted all avenues to reach out to the participants. 

According to Daniel Tetsuyama, one of the Cardano figures involved, the unredeemed funds were reallocated as per regulations and not ‘stolen’ as alleged. 

Source: Daniel Tetsuyama/X

On the contrary, some critics believe the ICO participants were short-changed and should be reimbursed. 

To clear the speculation and set the record straight, Telpner noted that an independent audit will be conducted. 

“There will be an audit conducted by independent third parties, whose findings will be made public. As a result, we know that this ongoing speculation on the ADA redemption process will, by necessity, give way to independently verified facts.”

Here, it’s worth noting that the debate was marked by a slight decline in Open Interest (OI) below $400 million. This hinted at reduced appetite for speculative interest in ADA on the Futures market. 

Additionally, the spot CVD (Cumulative Volume Delta) fell, reflecting falling demand in the spot market over the weekend. Collectively, this meant a slight cool-off from its recent rally. 

Source: Coinalyze

On the price charts, ADA retreated by 16% from its recent high of $0.86 after facing rejection at the upper range of the downtrend channel. However, the drop to $0.76 was still a higher low, and the price action was above short-term moving averages. 

This can be seen as a sign of short-term strength. However, bulls can only be out of the woods if ADA decisively moves above $0.85. 

Source: ADA/USDT, TradingView