Cardano's founder has made it clear: treasury funds will not pay for exchange listing fees for ecological projects, including Midnight and Snek.

Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, publicly refuted claims that the network's treasury would pay for project listing fees on exchanges. He emphasized that no project, including key ecological projects like Midnight and the largest meme coin project Snek, can use ADA from the Cardano treasury to pay for their application fees to top-tier exchanges. Hoskinson suggested that project parties explore applying for funds from the treasury in the form of repayable bonds as an alternative solution. Meanwhile, the Cardano community has voted to approve funding for core protocol upgrades (including Ouroboros Leios, Hydra, and Project Acropolis), with the price of ADA rising nearly 3% in a single day and the chances of its Spot ETF approval increasing to 83%.

Hoskinson: Treasury funds are not used for project listing fees Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, has explicitly denied rumors regarding the network treasury paying the listing fees for projects on exchanges. On the social media platform X, Hoskinson revealed that neither the SNEK nor the Midnight project will draw ADA from the Cardano treasury to fund their applications for listing on top cryptocurrency exchanges.

Responding to the Snek proposal, reaffirming the principles of treasury fund usage Hoskinson's remarks are a response to a proposal by Snek, the largest meme coin project on Cardano. Snek proposed to withdraw 5 million ADA tokens from the network treasury to pay for its listing fees on leading cryptocurrency exchanges (targeting Hyperliquid). Although the listing fees for top exchanges (which have not been explicitly disclosed) can reach hundreds of thousands of dollars, Hoskinson stated that while he personally has a favorable view of SNEK and the Midnight project, both projects must use their own reserve funds to cover their listing costs.

"I support and like the SNEK community, but no one's (including Midnight's) coin listing fees will be paid by the treasury." — Charles Hoskinson

Proposed alternative: repayable bonds However, Hoskinson revealed that the project party could consider applying to structure it as a repayable bond to borrow from the Cardano treasury, which is an alternative worth exploring. Previously, a proposal to convert part of the Cardano sovereign wealth fund into stablecoins had faced strong opposition from the community.

Current Project Coin Status and Midnight Progress Currently, Snek has been listed on multiple exchanges, while the Midnight network has not officially launched yet, and the community is still waiting for its airdrop (Midnight airdrop). Hoskinson previously revealed that the "Midnight Glacier Drop" airdrop event will take place in the second half of this year, with the specific date to be announced at the Rare Evo event.

Community approves core development funding, technical upgrades receive support In new developments, the Cardano community has voted to approve funding for the protocol roadmap of Input Output Engineering (IOG). Following this crucial vote, funds from the Cardano treasury will be used to support core protocol technology upgrades, including Ouroboros Leios, Hydra, and Project Acropolis.

"Securing funding is just the beginning," said Ricky Rand, General Manager of Input Output Engineering. "This is a vote of confidence in the future of Cardano - a model that demonstrates how decentralized finance and delivery can operate at scale."

ADA market performance and ETF prospects Against the backdrop of the upcoming network upgrade and the imminent Midnight airdrop, fueled by emerging institutional interest, the approval chances for the Cardano Spot ETF have surged to 83%. At the same time, the price of ADA has risen nearly 3% (2.87%) in the past 24 hours, trading at $0.72, but its 7-day chart still shows a 12% pullback.

Conclusion: Hoskinson's firm stance on the use of treasury funds clearly delineates the boundaries for Cardano ecosystem projects to independently bear the listing costs on exchanges, emphasizing the principle that treasury funds should focus on the development of core protocols. The listing paths for projects like Snek need to seek other funding solutions, while the community's approval of funding proposals for core upgrades provides a crucial guarantee for the continuous evolution of the underlying technology of the Cardano network. As the launch of Midnight approaches and expectations for ETFs rise, the market performance of ADA and on-chain governance decisions will continue to attract close attention from the market.