Crypto: Hoskinson Sees a New Era of Exponential Growth

Charles Hoskinson believes that crypto has just entered a phase of exponential growth. During a speech at the United Nations, the founder of Cardano compared blockchain to the Internet and artificial intelligence, two technologies whose adoption accelerated after slower starts. His most concrete example: tokenized stocks, which have risen from about $600 million to $3 billion.

In Brief

• Charles Hoskinson compares the evolution of crypto to that of the Internet and AI.
• Tokenized stocks have risen from about $600 million to $3 billion.
• For him, blockchain is entering a phase where its adoption could accelerate significantly.

Hoskinson Sees Crypto Scaling Up

Charles Hoskinson starts from a fairly simple idea. Exponential technologies rarely progress in a linear fashion. For several years, changes may seem limited. Then, improvements in infrastructure, decreasing costs, and the arrival of new users accelerate everything.

The Internet is his main point of comparison. International communications once heavily depended on distance. The network gradually reduced this constraint until it allowed for almost instantaneous exchanges on a global scale.

Hoskinson now places blockchain on a comparable trajectory. He also associates this evolution with artificial intelligence, a field he already wants to integrate more into the Cardano ecosystem.

AI models are becoming capable of accomplishing more tasks with fewer computing resources. Blockchain, on the other hand, is gradually gaining uses beyond simple cryptocurrency exchanges. Traditional finance is just beginning to provide several examples.

Tokenized Stocks Rise from $600 Million to $3 Billion

Hoskinson cites the tokenization of financial assets to illustrate his reasoning. The data presented during his speech show tokenized stocks rising from about $600 million at the beginning of 2025 to nearly $3 billion. The market has thus multiplied by five in less than two years.

Stocks, currencies, real estate, or funds can now be represented on the blockchain. Several crypto platforms and financial institutions are also developing infrastructures that allow for their settlement and transfer on-chain.

However, the figure of $3 billion deserves clarification. The market size and trading volumes do not measure the same thing.

At the beginning of September, tokenized stocks had also approached $3 billion in weekly spot volume. Robinhood Chain, BNB Chain, and Solana were among the most active networks in this segment at that time.

The actual use integrated into on-chain finance remained much lower, around 5% according to data reported at that time. The progression is therefore rapid. The market is still small compared to traditional exchanges.

Technological Growth Does Not Guarantee Price Growth

Hoskinson also uses renewable energy to illustrate the errors that overly linear projections can cause. In Germany, renewables accounted for 55.9% of net public electricity production in 2025, a level difficult to imagine a few decades earlier.

His reasoning primarily focuses on technological adoption. This is not a price forecast for Bitcoin, ADA, or the entire crypto market. A technology can progress rapidly without all tokens related to the sector automatically benefiting from this growth.

Cardano knows this well. Its ecosystem has continued to develop Leios, AI, and privacy while ADA has gone through several difficult periods in the markets.

Hoskinson is particularly betting on Midnight to expand the uses of his ecosystem. The privacy-oriented network seeks to combine blockchain, data protection, and applications intended for businesses. The thesis presented at the United Nations thus far exceeds Cardano. Tokenization, AI, blockchain settlement, and new financial products are advancing in parallel. For Hoskinson, it is precisely this mix that could accelerate crypto's speed.