Hoskinson: "What shakes Web3 is off-chain centralization"… Cardano's solution faces a test

Charles Hoskinson(Charles Hoskinson), founder of Cardano, recently advocated in a live broadcast that the next phase of Cardano should not merely repeat the slogan of “decentralization,” but focus on addressing the structural weakness of reliance on “centralized off-chain infrastructure,” which defines the entire cryptocurrency industry.

He emphasized that awareness of this issue is directly related to the long-term development direction of the Cardano Treasury, including mentions of BlockFrost, Midnight, partner chains, and the network, and warned that once the infrastructure underlying user experience is controlled by off-chain enterprises, the ideals of Web3 may be shaken.

“The unsettling truth of Web3”… Cardano is no exception

In a late-night live broadcast on April 23 (local time) in Wyoming, USA, Hoskinson used an article from January 2022 titled “My First Impressions of Web3” by Moxie Marlinspike, co-founder of Signal, as the core text. He explained that this article pointed out the “unsettling truth” hidden behind the industry’s decentralization claims and influenced his decision to acquire BlockFrost.

During the broadcast, Hoskinson reviewed Marlinspike’s core argument: “Users don’t want to run their own servers, protocol progress is slow, and many ‘decentralized’ applications actually rely on centralized companies to provide real user experience.” He specifically quoted the paragraph: “When ecosystems centralize around platforms for convenience, it creates the ‘worst combination’—concentrated control, while the system remains fragmented, leading to slow changes,” and stated, “Cardano is no exception. The unsettling truth he refers to is that the answer lies in ‘not so.’”

Midnight → BlockFrost… The concept of a “decentralized infrastructure network”

Hoskinson proposed a solution of “rearranging the tech stack.” He believes that Midnight is needed first, and explained that cryptographic components such as multi-party computation (MPC)(MPC), zero-knowledge cryptography (ZK)(ZK), and trusted execution environments (TEE)(TEE) are key to building a more consistent trust model. However, he also clarified that relying solely on privacy and encryption technologies is insufficient; as long as the infrastructure layer depends on centralized service providers, the problem will recur.

Against this backdrop, the role of BlockFrost becomes prominent. Hoskinson advocates that, in the long term, BlockFrost should become a “decentralized infrastructure network,” replacing the gatekeeper role of development platforms between users and blockchains. He stated: “If we support it, the fate of BlockFrost will be to become what everyone expects—a ‘decentralized Alchemy’,” and philosophically, it should also be evaluated as a Web3 alternative.

“Control points outside the chain”… Treasury voting and ADA price

Hoskinson also cited the economics of crypto infrastructure as a basis. He mentioned that Alchemy raised $200 million in February 2022, achieving a valuation of $10 billion, a significant jump from the previous round’s $3.5 billion. His interpretation is not merely market chatter but a signal: companies responsible for custody, indexing, and building user interfaces hold actual “control points” and are expanding influence independently of on-chain decentralization.

He added that this view is also related to Cardano’s Treasury voting. He explained that the current proposals under discussion are not random supports but part of an “end-to-end” strategy aimed at simultaneously advancing application-layer decentralization, scalability improvements, external system integration, and building off-chain infrastructure that does not recreate Web2-style bottlenecks. Hoskinson stated: “Off-chain elements always exist,” and “what’s deeply unsettling is that while we talk about Web3, we are creating incentives structures that allow enterprises to develop and define user experience through off-chain components.” As of the report, ADA’s trading price was $0.25, which, at an exchange rate of $1 to 1,477.50 KRW, is approximately 369 KRW.

Article summary provided by TokenPost.ai

🔎 Market interpretation - The core weakness of blockchain is not on-chain consensus but the centralization of “off-chain infrastructure (custody, indexing, APIs).” - When platforms become gatekeepers for user convenience(UX), it creates the worst structure of “concentrated control and slow change.” - The soaring value of infrastructure companies like Alchemy signals that “actual control points are outside the chain.” 💡 Strategic points - Cardano’s next phase should focus on dispersing off-chain infrastructure to eliminate UX control points, rather than merely repeating the decentralization slogan. - Strengthen trust models and privacy through Midnight’s MPC, ZK, TEE, while cutting dependence on centralized infrastructure layers for full effect. - Develop BlockFrost into a “decentralized infrastructure network” to replace development platforms as intermediaries (aiming to become a “decentralized Alchemy”). - Treasury votes should not be seen as one-time support but as part of a bundled end-to-end strategy that promotes application decentralization, scalability, external linkage, and elimination of off-chain bottlenecks. 📘 Terminology整理 - Off-chain infrastructure: service providers/companies responsible for providing APIs, data indexing, node/server operation, custody, etc., outside the blockchain. - Gatekeeper(: The intermediary platform (through access permissions, policies, fees) that users/developers must go through to access the blockchain. - Indexing): The process of organizing blockchain data/events into searchable and queryable formats to enable fast application queries. - MPC(: Multi-party computation, a cryptographic technique where multiple parties compute a result without revealing their private inputs. - ZK): Zero-knowledge proof, a technique to prove a fact is true without revealing the content itself. - TEE(: Trusted execution environment, a hardware-based environment that isolates code/data to enhance execution integrity.

💡 Frequently Asked Questions )FAQ(

Q. Why is “off-chain centralization” a problem for Web3? Even if decentralized consensus is achieved on-chain, actual service usage often depends on off-chain infrastructure like APIs, custody, and indexing. If these infrastructures are concentrated in a few companies, disconnection, policy changes, and fee hikes can be controlled by centralized points, affecting user experience)UX( and access permissions, thereby weakening Web3’s “censorship resistance/autonomy.” Q. What does it mean to build BlockFrost into a “decentralized Alchemy”? It is a concept aimed at providing the convenience of “easy access to blockchain” like Alchemy, but dispersing its structure to avoid monopolization of intermediary gatekeepers by specific companies. In other words, when applications access the blockchain, they do not rely on a single centralized API provider but instead use a network of infrastructure provided by multiple participants, reducing “control points.” Q. How is this discussion related to Cardano’s Treasury (funds) voting? Hoskinson explained that proposals like BlockFrost, Midnight, and partner chains in the Treasury debate are not merely “funding support,” but part of an end-to-end strategy to promote application decentralization, scalability, external system linkage, and eliminate off-chain bottlenecks. The core is to decentralize not only on-chain but also the off-chain infrastructure necessary for service operation, structurally reducing centralization incentives.

TP AI注意事项 Using a language model based on TokenPost.ai to summarize the article. The summary may omit key points or be inconsistent with facts.