News
Cardano Founder Pitches Blockchain Solution to Elon Musk
On Tuesday, July 16, Charles Hoskinson, founder of the Cardano blockchain platform, went public offered to help Elon Musk address the growing problem of account hacks and the proliferation of scam bots on X (formerly Twitter). Hoskinson’s proposal calls for integrating Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs), a concept endorsed by standards bodies such as the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), into the X framework.
What Cardano founder offers Musk
Hoskinson reached out directly via a post on X, stating, “Elon, we need DID built into X. It solves all these problems. Again, I’ll do it for free.” This offer was made in the context of recent security breaches highlighted by Ben Goertzel, CEO of SingularityNet, who apologized to his followers after his account was hacked and used to distribute scam link.
The conversation about DIDs and their potential application within the X platform has sparked a broader debate about the nature and implementation of decentralized identity technologies. Timothy Ruff, General Partner at Digital Trust Ventures, criticized the proposal to potentially centralize an aspect of X that should remain decentralized. Ruff argued, “If you use ‘DID’ as shorthand for decentralized identity (it’s not) and it’s on a blockchain, it’s not decentralized and shouldn’t be integrated into X.”
In response, Hoskinson clarified his position, emphasizing the technology’s alignment with broader standards and its blockchain-agnostic nature. Hoskinson clarified that he is not specifically proposing Cardano as a solution: “I’m referring to the w3c standard and we have a blockchain agnostic hyperledger project to issue and manage dids, anoncreds, and other parts of the identity stack. X needs to have a strong identity solution because of its desire to become an MSB.”
He further argued that integrating this technology into X would improve security, improve access control, remove bots, and simplify compliance systems, adding that “It’s in Scala as their software. It’s an easy lift and I’ll do it for free. I’m not here to cheat a blockchain. I want X to be better because it’s essential public infrastructure.”
Ruff responded by acknowledging Hoskinson’s credentials, but reiterated his concern about the reliance on blockchain technology: “My team helped launch the W3C spec, invented DID, and literally wrote Anoncreds, Hyperledger Indy, Aries, and Ursa. So I get it. I’m glad you’re not promoting a particular blockchain, but by ‘blockchain agnostic’ do you mean it’s still dependent on some blockchain?”
Hoskinson responded: “Tim, I remember talking extensively with Manu and Chris over the years about the did standard, and I’ve been a member of the DIF and W3C for just as long. No, as you know, did frameworks do not require blockchain. That’s a different part of the stack and shouldn’t impact the design.”
In support of the practical application of such technologies, Seira Yun, founder and CEO of Socious and ambassador of Cardano, highlighted their use in issuing verifiable credentials via Socious Wallet, which leverages Hyperledger Identus and is compliant with W3C standards: “Socious Wallet leverages Hyperledger Identus (formerly known as Atala PRISM), which is compatible with W3C standards. Businesses and educational institutions use Socious to issue verifiable KYC (VC) credentials and employment and education certificates.”
Although the vast majority of the Cardano community has encouraged Elon Musk to reach out to Hoskinson, the Tesla billionaire has yet to respond to the offer.
At press time, Cardano (ADA) was trading at $0.446.
Featured image from YouTube, chart from TradingView.com