According to Foresight News, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson responded to community inquiries about why Cardano cannot integrate USDC in the same manner as the initial distribution of ADA tokens. Hoskinson clarified that no ADA was gifted to Cardano's development company, Input Output Global (IOG). He emphasized that all funds were earned independently and were not derived from user contributions, but rather from profits generated by building Cardano. In 2015, the original value of ADA held by IOG was approximately $8 million. While the Cardano Foundation received ADA as a donation, it is obligated to utilize these funds for the ecosystem's development.