Finding aliens, raising bison, longevity science, Cardano founder as an alternative patron in the crypto world

Original Title: "Why Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson became crypto's patron of the weird and wild"

Author: Ben Weiss, DL News

Translation by: Felix, PANews

Charles Hoskinson, the founder of the Cardano blockchain, loves to talk about cryptocurrency. The 36-year-old billionaire also enjoys discussing aliens. In 2023, he funded an expedition to Papua New Guinea to see if interstellar objects could possibly be alien-made, but it turned out not to be the case.

He also loves to ramble about bison. He owns an 11,000-acre ranch in Wyoming, home to 600 of these gentle herbivores. He explained in an interview, "You can't treat bison like you would cattle." "Bison need to roam."

Part of Hoskinson's family lineage traces back to Florence, Italy, and he jokes that he might be related to the Medici family, a powerful banking dynasty that commissioned works from artists like Leonardo da Vinci.

In other words, this crypto industry leader is a true "Renaissance man."

"The Dilemma"

Hoskinson may not be a ruler of an Italian city-state, but he does have a background in capital.

In 2017, he helped launch Cardano, an L1 blockchain aimed at challenging Ethereum, and he was also involved in the founding of Ethereum.

Although Cardano is often labeled a "zombie chain" or a blockchain with less on-chain activity compared to others like Ethereum or Solana, according to DefiLlama data, Cardano (ADA) has a market cap of about $12.5 billion. (Note from PANews: Hoskinson recently stated in an interview that he has changed his stance on Bitcoin and announced that Cardano L1 will transform into a Bitcoin L2.)

In June of this year, in response to comments about the blockchain being disconnected from the real world, Hoskinson stated, "If we have to solve the economic, political, and social problems that we all face in the real world, that will be a tremendous force that will drag the entire industry down."

Nevertheless, Hoskinson's amateur investments have attracted the attention of some crypto users. Recently in Singapore, Hoskinson elaborated on what drives his diverse interests. He stated, "I just enjoy solving problems."

Other crypto founders have also spent large sums supporting their "quirky" ventures. Another Ethereum co-founder, Gavin Wood, invested in his DJ career. BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes bought a fish tank containing three blacktip reef sharks for his crypto exchange office in Hong Kong. Animoca Brands chairman Yat Siu purchased a violin that once belonged to Catherine the Great.

Forward-Thinking Projects

However, Hoskinson, who owns a private jet and a Blackhawk helicopter and claims a net worth of about $1.2 billion, is a supporter of forward-thinking projects.

"I'm friends with Steve Wolfram (the computer scientist) and all those people." "They always bring their most pressing issues, and when you work with them, you can turn those pressing issues into your own."

On a personal level, Hoskinson does not come across as a flashy Silicon Valley tycoon but rather as a friendly scholar. After growing up in Hawaii, he became one of the original eight co-founders of Ethereum in the early 2010s. Soon, his relationship with the blockchain network's chief architect, Vitalik Buterin, became strained.

Hoskinson wanted the founders of Ethereum to create a for-profit entity and accept venture capital. Buterin wanted to maintain a non-profit organization.

Ethereum co-founder Hoskinson is funding longevity science research

In the second half of 2014, Hoskinson left Ethereum, and the following year, he co-founded Input Output (IOHK) with former colleague Jeremy Wood. IOHK is a general company engaged in all blockchain-related businesses, with its most famous product being Cardano. It is also involved in several other projects, including the Cardano sidechain Midnight and the Cardano wallet Daedalus.

Glowing Plants

Hoskinson's interests are not limited to cryptography or blockchain. He also enjoys glowing plants.

"If you want to solve global warming or improve the environment, then getting involved in plant genetic engineering makes sense."

He believes that specially engineered plants can not only produce organic lighting but also sequester carbon, eliminate toxic chemicals, and provide other environmental benefits.

He showed a photo on his phone of himself smiling in the dark, holding a neon green plant. He thinks that cultivating tobacco and Arabidopsis are some of the species his team has illuminated.

While Hoskinson declined to elaborate on the biological mechanisms that make his plants glow, he did mention that his team is using a new gene-editing technology called CRISPR that utilizes enzyme editing.

Hoskinson plans to publicly showcase these plants within a year. He also mentioned bioluminescent cannabis in bioengineering.

"If it has a lot of THC, it will emit red light," he mused, referring to the active ingredient in cannabis. "Just a little bit will emit green light."

Longevity Science

Hoskinson is also keen on injecting himself with stem cells, which play a crucial role in medical research due to their self-renewing capabilities.

Both his father and brother are doctors. Hoskinson has invested $100 million to establish a health and wellness facility named Hoskinson in Gillette, Wyoming. He stated that the facility will begin its first research trial next year, supervised by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Like many wealthy tech company founders, Hoskinson is interested in longevity science. This research trial will assess the efficacy of combining stem cell injections with hyperbaric oxygen therapy, or the effects of patients breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized chamber.

"If my hypothesis is correct, we could reverse aging by over 10 years." The first trial subjects will include Hoskinson himself. "I'm getting fatter and older; it would be great to live longer and healthier."

Doctors have extracted his stem cells, and his mini Hoskinson cells have begun to divide in his facility. When the FDA approves clinical trials, Hoskinson will begin receiving injections.

But this is not the only medical project he has planned.

By next summer, he plans to expand his health center in Wyoming to 70,000 square feet and incorporate disciplines such as cardiology, radiology, and immunology.

Moreover, like any good Medici family member, he will display "priceless artworks" in the expanded clinic.

These include "four-dimensional objects," an "infinity room" inspired by the legendary Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, and a 6-foot-tall Godzilla-themed stereoscopic model.