Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson suggested that his longstanding network within the Bitcoin community could give Cardano an advantage in the race to build Bitcoin DeFi.
Speaking recently on The Breakdown podcast, Hoskinson revealed that he was once among the world’s largest Bitcoin holders. He noted that Cardano’s early crowdsale controlled 108,000 Bitcoin. He explained that funds raised in Japanese yen during the crowdsale were converted into Bitcoin, resulting in the massive holding.
At Bitcoin’s price of roughly $250 at the time, the 108,000 BTC would have been worth about $27 million. Hoskinson also recalled discussing the holding with BitGo CEO Mike Belshe, describing the period as a “wild time.”
However, Hoskinson did not clarify whether he or any entity associated with the Cardano project still holds the Bitcoin. Notably, he suggested that his early involvement in Bitcoin helped him build longstanding relationships with major holders across the ecosystem. He believes those connections could become valuable as Cardano seeks to attract Bitcoin liquidity into DeFi.
Cardano Targets Bitcoin’s Idle Liquidity
According to Hoskinson, Bitcoin holders could allocate capital to DeFi if Cardano delivers products that offer compelling, reliable yield opportunities.
At the same time, he stressed that Bitcoiners want DeFi solutions that respect Bitcoin’s core principles. These include self-custody, control over assets and properly structured lending, without requiring changes to Bitcoin or forcing users into specific Layer-2 solutions.
That vision aligns with Pogun, an initiative by Input Output Group designed to connect Bitcoin’s idle liquidity to Cardano’s DeFi ecosystem while allowing users to retain custody of their private keys.
Pogun Advances Toward Bitcoin DeFi
Pogun’s 2026 roadmap includes a non-margin, oracle-free credit market in Q2, followed by a fixed-term yield DApp in Q3. The initiative is also targeting a BitVM-based, trust-minimized Bitcoin bridge in Q4.
Hoskinson has additionally highlighted major improvements in the technology supporting Cardano’s Bitcoin DeFi strategy. He said the size of a Bitcoin DeFi proof has fallen from 40 GB to 28.1 MB, while validation time has dropped from roughly 354 seconds to 0.149 seconds.
The cost of validating a transaction has also reportedly declined sharply, from around $14,000 to $37.
$1.5B Potential Demand
Meanwhile, Pogun CEO Omer Husain recently said the project is already building its loan book ahead of launch. According to Husain, its founding borrowers have indicated $500 million in demand, while regulated institutions on the lending side have expressed interest in providing up to $1 billion.
The reported demand and technological improvements could strengthen Cardano’s efforts to tap Bitcoin’s vast liquidity pool. However, the success of that strategy will ultimately depend on whether Pogun and other Cardano-based Bitcoin DeFi products can deliver the security, custody, and lending standards Bitcoin holders expect.