Joel Telpner

Chief Legal Officer & Chief Policy Officer, Input Output Global - IOHK, and Special Counsel, Sullivan & Worcester

[Joel Telpner @JTelpner]

@IOHK_Charles While I (reluctantly) admit that I am “slightly” older than Charles, I couldn’t agree more. He is an amazing mentor and wise leader

[Joel Telpner @JTelpner]

@IntersectMBO I got to know Max through the Cardano Constitution process. I so valued his contributions and will miss him terribly. Max, may your memory be a blessing.

[Joel Telpner @JTelpner]

Dear Cardano Community,

As you know, in May 2025, IOG engaged McDermott Will & Schulte and BDO to conduct an Investigative Report and Forensic Audit concerning the ada Voucher Program, redemptions of Vouchers, Cardano blockchain upgrades, and the use of ada associated with unredeemed Vouchers.  It is now complete!  The 128 page Investigative Report and Forensic Audit, dated September 2, 2025, documents certain milestone events and decisions in Cardano’s 10 year history and investigates a series of public accusations made on social media alleging wrongdoing concerning the Topics of the Investigative Report and Forensic Audit.  

The public accusations included five principle allegations: (1) Cardano insiders stole or otherwise misused ada that should have been allocated to Voucher Holders; (2) improper sales tactics were used in connection with the Voucher Program; (3) Cardano blockchain upgrades were designed to make it difficult to redeem Vouchers; (4) Cardano blockchain upgrades deleted Voucher Holders’ “private keys” or assets; and (5) that Cardano insiders had no legal right to send unredeemed ada to CDH and decide how to spend it.

I am pleased to report that the Investigative Report and Forensic Audit reaches the following conclusion:

“After review of tens of thousands of documents, a forensic on-chain and traditional forensic analysis, and eighteen formal interviews of current employees, former employees, Voucher Holders, service providers, community members, and other third parties, the Investigation determined that each of the allegations related to the Topics of Investigation do not have any basis.”

I encourage anyone interested to read the Investigative Report and Forensic Audit.  It may be found in its entirety here: https://t.co/cA9FLUbS8n

It has been a long ride, and I want to personally thank the Cardano Community for your patience and support.

[Joel Telpner @JTelpner]

Please see the link below. https://t.co/cA9FLUbS8n
As started, Input Output Global, Inc. (“IOG”) has commissioned a comprehensive investigative report and forensic audit of the ada Voucher Program including the pre-launch of vouchers, Cardano blockchain upgrades, and the use of ada associated with unredeemed vouchers. The resultant investigative report and forensic audit will provide a comprehensive and transparent account of the facts, with findings and methodology documented in detail.

The investigative report and forensic audit will be released soon and published here in its entirety.

[Joel Telpner @JTelpner]

@yeaookk @FredCardano It was certain individuals who accused Charles of stealing 600 million ada

[Joel Telpner @JTelpner]

@decayitsreal I expect that audit will clearly set out its complete scope.

[Joel Telpner @JTelpner]

Hello Cardano Community. We are making good progress on the investigative and audit report that we promised to deliver. The law firm and audit firm are close to completing their work and we are hoping the report will be ready to release by the middle of August. I’ll continue to keep you updated.

[Joel Telpner @JTelpner]

It’s coming! Is anyone shocked that that lawyers and accountants take more time than they anticipated? They have told us that it is almost done, that they are in the final stages and barring any unanticipated emergencies—we are days away. I’ve instructed them to do everything humanly possible for it to be releasss next week.

[Input Output Group @IOGroup]

🏛️@IOHK_Charles was honored to accept an invitation from @SenatorTimScott to help lead a roundtable discussion yesterday on Capitol Hill with Members of the Senate Banking Committee and industry experts on digital asset market structure and responsible innovation. @JTelpner, @BTL_Edinburgh's @_LadyChristina_, @MichaelPiwowar, @lesborsai and @teresagoody also participated in the roundtable.

We appreciate Chairman Scott's leadership in encouraging productive dialogue between industry leaders and legislators, and advancing key bills, such as the GENIUS Act, that promote innovation and help preserve the United States's leadership in the industry. We also thank @SenLummis, @berniemoreno, @SenatorRicketts for their leadership and engagement in the roundtable.

[Charles Hoskinson @IOHK_Charles]

Good to be in Washington

[Eleanor Terrett @EleanorTerrett]

GM! ☕️🌞

Crypto Week resumes with big votes expected in the House, including on the GENIUS Act, which could pass and head to President Trump’s desk. A signing ceremony is already scheduled for tomorrow at the White House.

Over in the Senate, @SenatorTimScott is hosting a @BankingGOP member roundtable at 9AM ET focused on the future of digital asset regulation and compliance.

Industry participants include:

📌@IOHK_Charles
📌@MichaelPiwowar
📌 @silviomicali
📌 @teresagoody
📌@JTelpner
📌 @lesborsai
📌 @_LadyChristina_

[Charles Hoskinson @IOHK_Charles]

We in DC. Let's get it done

[Joel Telpner @JTelpner]

@JureKaramarko @IOHK_Charles @OneBillian @joshualeestone @stuff_io I’ve always wished I was taller. I used to blame my parents. Now, I realize how misguided that was. Clearly, it’s Charles’ fault. Even though I’m older than Charles, somehow he must have had something to do with it

[Joel Telpner @JTelpner]

@IOHK_Charles @zharck @timbharrison Tim Harrison and I will keep everyone updated when there are developments to report.

[Tim Harrison @timbharrison]

@CoinMarketCap https://t.co/RdJxxmQfap

[nate 💳 @nateacton]

Early ADA voucher buyers in Japan, managed by Attain, claimed nearly all ICO vouchers with a small portion left unclaimed. After Attain shut down due to Japanese digital assets law changes and Shelley hard fork adjusted the original redemption setup in 2020, a new KYC process was done again.

Through proactiveness from the IOG side, a trusted local firm spent years and significant resources discreetly searching for unclaimed holders to avoid fraud risks, going door to door and speaking to relatives. @emurgo_io aided in connecting some people, with partial successes. It's not something you can broadcast out to the world, it takes discretion to identify potentially HNWI.

We trusted the thorough process, and vouch for the third party’s integrity even today. It’s disheartening to see FUD against the @InputOutputHK team's exhaustive search efforts and leaders coordinating like @JTelpner and the audit commitment.

It's been 7 years+, no other blockchain entity matches this commitment and integrity. Many don't last more than two cycles —personally I'm grateful.

[Joel Telpner @JTelpner]

As promised in my prior tweets regarding the ada redemption process, the law firm McDermott Will and Emery and the accounting and adit firm BDO have been engaged to audit and prepare a public report of the ada redemption. MW&E (https://t.co/yD9uJBpX7g)
is a global law firm with more than 1,400 lawyers and 24 locations around the world. MW&E has an extensive and recognized digital asset practice. BDO (https://t.co/A0LwvE32s6) is a global accounting and audit firm with worldwide locations. BDO has extensive forensic investigation and data analytics capabilities including digital asset tracing. MW&E and BDO also intend to engage a crypto analytics firm in preparing the report. An additional announcement will be made when that firm has been engaged. I know everyone wants to know when the report will be completed and made available. The answer is that as of today I honestly don’t know. Both firms are beginning their work immediately and have been instructed to complete the audit and prepare and make the report available as soon as humanly possible.

[Ben 🇬🇧🇺🇸🇯🇵 @benohanlon]

Great post from @cardano_whale providing important historical context about the early days https://t.co/4FJVN3ErMo.

Let’s cut to the chase: The past 48 hours have been deeply frustrating and anger-inducing for those of us who've dedicated years of our life to Cardano’s growth. I've personally spent six years in Cardano since being hired by @InputOutputHK, balancing roles—representing the community to the business, and the business to the community. During this time, I've witnessed first-hand the relentless, challenging work Charles and the IO team have done to innovate and build this ecosystem.

1) First, yes—it’s good to ask tough questions, push for accountability, and demand transparency. IO has clearly committed to a full audit to address legitimate concerns explicitly. Constructive disagreement and respectful critique are essential to any healthy community.

2) However, let's clearly distinguish this from what's also occurring—coordinated harassment involving physical threats, deeply personal attacks, explicit accusations of theft, and relentless toxic behavior designed purely to intimidate and harm Charles and IO’s staff. These attacks are not about ethics, transparency, or Cardano’s long-term health. The consistent pattern clearly demonstrates they never have been.

3) For example, earlier this year, certain attackers aggressively made explicit accusations of theft, demanding immediate answers and openly mocking genuine attempts by Charles and IO staff to engage constructively. When community members familiar with the early years provided factual responses that challenged these narratives, attackers pivoted to philosophical arguments about governance or "code is law," employing a classic motte-and-bailey tactic—publicly defending reasonable positions (the motte) while privately promoting indefensible allegations (the bailey), including serious accusations of criminality and fraud. Coordinated from a group casually dropping racist and anti semitic sniggers alongside threats, attacks on personal appearance and more into a toxic pit of Discord.

4) These people are cowards. Any exposure over any length of time gives you a pattern of the same psychological manipulation tactics, including whataboutism, goalpost-shifting, and sealioning, typical of Cluster B personality behaviors (dramatic emotional exaggeration, impulsivity, attention-seeking). Their methods intentionally exhaust productive dialogue, making genuine resolution impossible. The measurable consequences are damaging. Financially, these actions diminish the appeal of the ecosystem to builders and newcomers, causing real brand damage. Emotionally, they've weakened community enthusiasm, spirit, and safety.

5) I'm deeply saddened to see @IOHK_Charles, the visionary behind the ecosystem from the whiteboard onwards, feel so disheartened after creating enormous opportunities for all of us. We came because of him and stayed because of each other.

I don’t want to drag this out any further. As @timbharrison wisely noted earlier today, it's Monday, and we all have important work ahead. But I needed to write this. We owe it to ourselves, Charles, and the community to draw a clear line between legitimate critique and destructive harassment. Let's recommit to respectful, constructive dialogue and continue building together—rather than tolerating attempts to tear down what we've collectively achieved. Do it for the culture.

[Joel Telpner @JTelpner]

The debate surrounding the ada redemption process continues without abatement. Aristotle’s quote, “nature abhors a vacuum,” is over 2,000 years old but may even ring truer today in our world cluttered by online media platforms such as X. In this digital world of instant gratification, it is human nature to fill the perceived vacuum created by a lack of facts with speculation. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. In the United States, even opinion in the form of speculation is protected by the free speech rights embedded in the First Amendment of the American Constitution.
Divergent opinions result in healthy debate, but at times, speculation can also devolve into poisonous, destructive and damaging discourse. Accordingly, even the First Amendment has limits.  On such limit is defamation. Defamation occurs when false statements are presented as fact, and those statements result in harm or damage to an individual or business. A good example of this is a tweet that was posted that made an accusation of laundering.
Regardless of our personal views as to all of the ongoing speculation or its potential adverse impact on us or Cardano, we have no intent of shutting down the ongoing debate.  It is not our right to do so. Instead, as I will again repeat, there will be an audit conducted by independent third parties, whose findings will be made public.  As a result, we know that this ongoing speculation on the ada redemption process will, by necessity, give way to independently verified facts. And that’s a good thing, because any current speculation and opinion supported by those verified facts must stand. However, the speculation out there that is nothing more than defamation, and that has and is hurting reputations and creating economic harm does give rise to legal claims. In fact, some written statements, if untrue and that are made negligently or with actual malice can be considered so damaging to an individual’s or business’s reputation that they are libel per se and can be successfully prosecuted without the need to even prove damages.
When you are the target of repugnant accusations, it hurts. While this type of behavior represents some of the worst attributes of human behavior, it is what is. But when statements cross the line and become defamation, they should not and will not be ignored.