Cardano Founder predicts end of Ethereum in 15 years
Hoskinson says Ethereum has “15 years max” without major reform.
Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson delivered a pointed critique of Ethereum’s long-term viability during an April 23 livestream, arguing that the platform suffers from three major “self-inflicted wounds” that could prove fatal without serious reform.
Hoskinson, who co-founded Ethereum in 2014, said the project made critical design mistakes—choosing the wrong accounting model, virtual machine, and consensus mechanism—that continue to hamper its scalability and resilience, reports The Bitcoinist.
“Ethereum has 15 years, max,” says Hoskinson
During the session, Hoskinson warned that Ethereum may not survive beyond the next decade unless it undertakes deep architectural and governance reforms. “I don’t think Ethereum will survive more than 10 to 15 years,” he said, citing the rise of faster monolithic chains and the potential dominance of Bitcoin-based DeFi.
He criticized Ethereum’s reliance on rollups and Layer-2 solutions, claiming they siphon value from the base chain and create long-term coordination issues. He urged Ethereum developers to explore alternative technologies, including Cardano’s own Ouroboros-Leios upgrade, object-oriented models like SWE, and the RISC-V instruction set. He also emphasized the need for formal on-chain governance—a feature Ethereum lacks but Cardano has prioritized.
A contrast in roadmaps and visions
Hoskinson positioned Cardano as already implementing many of the improvements he believes Ethereum needs. He pointed to Cardano’s extended UTXO model, RISC-V-based virtual machine, and its Hydra and Midnight Layer-2 scaling solutions as evidence of a more sustainable design path. Though he acknowledged that Cardano’s governance tools are still evolving, he said they are expected to mature within three to five years.
The comments arrive at a critical time for Ethereum, which is preparing major upgrades to reduce transaction fees and improve throughput. While Ethereum developers are unlikely to shift course based on Hoskinson’s remarks, the critique highlights growing concerns over Ethereum’s scalability and governance in a rapidly evolving blockchain ecosystem.
Hoskinson concluded by likening Ethereum’s position to that of MySpace or BlackBerry—trailblazers that ultimately failed to adapt. Without structural change, he warned, Ethereum may face a similar fate.
Recently we wrote that as Solana's reputation continues to grow in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, more and more industry participants are discussing Ethereum’s future role in the space.
