Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has unveiled ambitious plans for a new Cardano tool that he claims will rival Solana’s transaction processing capabilities while maintaining full decentralization, addressing one of the most persistent criticisms of the Cardano network.
Speaking during a recent interview with crypto analyst Scott Melker, better known in the crypto community as “Wolf of All Streets,” Hoskinson highlighted Cardano’s upcoming Layer 2 solution, Leos, which he described as “the first solution to the blockchain trilemma.”
“We’re developing Leos, which is going to give us Solana-style speed but with full decentralization and no stalls,” Hoskinson stated. He emphasized that this advancement would be complemented by Cardano’s other scaling solutions, including Hydra and Midgard, an optimistic rollup system.
Notably, the blockchain trilemma refers to the challenge of simultaneously achieving scalability, security, and decentralization, a problem that has plagued many blockchain projects. While Solana has gained popularity for its high transaction speeds, it has faced criticism for occasional network outages, which Hoskinson quickly referenced.
“You see Solana go down all the time… yet we’re still there pushing through, and we don’t suffer from any of that stuff,” he added, highlighting Cardano’s seven-year track record of uninterrupted operation.
Hoskinson further defended Cardano against what he described as persistent misconceptions about the network’s capabilities. “People say, ‘Oh, there’s one transaction per block; it’s just a lie’… year by year, transaction volume is increasing dramatically, and the system’s been running for seven years straight, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with no downtime.”
The Cardano founder cited independent metrics to support his claims about the network’s strength, noting, “The Edward decentralization index says that Cardano is the most decentralized cryptocurrency on the planet.”
Beyond competing with Solana on speed, Hoskinson outlined a broader vision for Cardano’s ecosystem, detailing plans to become “the nexus of the entire UTXO DeFi ecosystem.” This includes initiatives like Lightning Hydra—a combination of Cardano’s Layer 2 solution with Bitcoin‘s Lightning Network and Midnight, a private smart contract platform.
Hoskinson expressed frustration at what he perceives as a lack of recognition for Cardano’s achievements. “It does get frustrating when you have the same conversation again and again… they don’t acknowledge what we’ve achieved, they don’t acknowledge where we’ve been.”
With a reported $1.5 billion on-chain treasury to fund development and strategic investments, Cardano appears well-positioned to deliver on these ambitious technical promises. If successful, Leos could represent a significant advancement in blockchain technology, potentially positioning Cardano as a major competitor in the high-performance blockchain arena currently dominated by networks like Solana.
The developments come as Cardano expands its utility across multiple fronts, including partnerships with Bitcoin-focused projects and real-world asset integration.
