Can RADIX crypto survive its founder? Price falls 40% in 24 hours

Radix network faces an uncertain future after the team confirmed the passing of its founder, Dan Hughes.

Summary

• Radix founder Dan Hughes passed away
• The network is at a critical juncture
• Tokenomics continues to put pressure on Radix

Radix (XRD) network faces an uncertain future after tragedy struck its community. On Tuesday, July 29, the Radix team confirmed the passing of the network’s founder, Dan Hughes. Shortly after the announcement, the token’s price dropped 40%, from a high of $0.007228 to $0.004777.

Hughes played a central role in the network as both the architect and the visionary behind the project. He was instrumental in the network’s innovations, such as the Cerberus consensus, the Radix Engine, and its proprietary programming language, Scrypto.

His passing also came at a critical time, just as the network was preparing to launch its Hyperscale mainnet and the Hyperlane multi-chain bridge. Hyperscale, formerly the Cassandra research network, is gradually rolling out, with the next phase set for the latter half of 2025. The long-term vision is to conclude with a Rust-based mainnet launch in 2027.

Radix continues to struggle with supply issues

The network is also preparing for the launch of a major rewards program, proposed in April. Originally set for 2025, the program would transfer 1 billion XRD from the treasury to the community over two years. Its goal was to boost community engagement and activity on the network.

Still, the incentive program also carries the potential risk of increasing the token’s circulating supply, which could lead to selling pressure. In fact, issues over token distribution have plagued Radix since its launch.

Specifically, large allocations for the team and early contributors have led to consistent selling pressure. So far, the token is down more than 99% from its all-time high achieved in November 2021, months after its launch.