Head of Cardano Foundation Replaced Following 'Puzzling' Conduct

Michael Parsons, Chairman of the Foundation Council of the Cardano Foundation, has relinquished his title, according to an official announcement.

Council Member of the Foundation Council of the Cardano Foundation to Chairman of the Foundation Council of the Cardano Foundation

He is replaced by one Pascal Schmid, formerly Council Member of the Foundation Council of the Cardano Foundation. Schmid, of Switzerland, is a qualified accountant.

This news is significant because Cardano's cryptocurrency, ADA, is one of the more valuable coins, with a market value of $1.8 billion according to coinmarketcap.com.

The Cardano Foundation is one of the three organisations involved in the development of the Cardano "developed from a scientific philosophy" Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tampe Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tampe Read this Term, which, despite its high market value, is still being developed.

The foundation is a non-profit organisation based in Zug, Switzerland. The other two are IOHK, the engineering company that is developing the blockchain, and EmurgoHK, which promotes the creation of decentralised applications on Cardano from Hong Kong.

The whole setup was begun by Charles Hoskinson, who also co-founded Ethereum Ethereum Ethereum is an open source, blockchain-based distributed computing platform and operating system featuring smart contract functionality. Created in 2014, Ethereum now stands as the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap at the time of writing.As a decentralized cryptocurrency network and software platform, Ethereum represents the most prominent altcoin. Ethereum also enables the creation Distributed Applications, or dapps. Understanding EthereumEthereum boasts its own programming language, Ethereum is an open source, blockchain-based distributed computing platform and operating system featuring smart contract functionality. Created in 2014, Ethereum now stands as the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap at the time of writing.As a decentralized cryptocurrency network and software platform, Ethereum represents the most prominent altcoin. Ethereum also enables the creation Distributed Applications, or dapps. Understanding EthereumEthereum boasts its own programming language, Read this Term. He is the CEO of IOHK.

I'll be going live in a few minutes for a community update: https://t.co/YocyipS0u9

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) November 14, 2018

Regarding the resignation, Hoskinson said: "Now that Parsons is gone, the Foundation needs to work very hard to restore its trust, faith, and credibility within the Cardano community..."

What was the problem?

Hoskinson and Ken Kodoma (CEO of EmurgoHK) co-authored an open letter in October in which they complained that the Cardano Foundation was not pulling its weight. Its aim is "to promote the Cardano protocol, to grow and inform our community and address the needs of the community," but "a lack of activity and progress on the assigned responsibilities of the Cardano Foundation and its council" had led to "great frustration".

They explain that the foundation had failed to lay out its goals, failed to be transparent in its working methods, and misleadingly claimed that it owned the Cardano trademark. It had been behaving in a "puzzling" way - for example, failing to attend a meeting with the Ethiopian Ministry of Science and Technology with IOHK and informing IOHK via email that it "was to be the single guardian of the Cardano brand and protocols".

More damningly, the letter says that the foundation refused to reveal where it holds its funds, and Parsons (the founding chairman as of September 2016) installed his stepson as general manager, and his stepson's wife as his (Parson's) assistant. Parsons also failed to refill vacancies on the board, so that there were eventually only two members, with him being the principle.

These are but a selection of the complaints detailed. IOHK ceased working with the foundation and demanded that it submit to an audit by the Swiss authorities, noting that Parsons could not be compelled to step down because the foundation is an independent legal entity.

It also noted that the separation of powers in the Cardano network was deliberate, so there was no risk of Parsons' behaviour destroying the project. It proposed that IOHK and EmurgoHK take over the functions that the foundation was supposed to execute.

In May, ratings firm Weiss placed Cardano (and EOS) above 91 other cryptocurrencies in terms of ‘technology/adoption’ and ‘investment risk/reward’.

ADA has been selected to be the base currency of IronX, the new cryptocurrency exchange of foreign exchange broker IronFX.

You're telling the CEO of iohk, founder of cardano and ethereum to use the support email? Just wanted to ask about the chrome delisting.

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) July 26, 2018