The Cardano Hospital, does it help with crypto adoption?

Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, has announced the launch of a new hospital called “Hoskinson Health & Wellness Clinic.” This new medical center will allow customers to pay for medical services using ADA, the native token of the Cardano ecosystem. The hospital will be open for business by February 2023 and is based in Wyoming, United States.

According to the hospital's website, the clinic offers a wide range of medical services, including primary care, mental health care, women's health, proactive health screenings, cancer screenings, diet/nutritional medicine, and cardiovascular care. The medical facility also focuses on life extensions for aging patients, biological food supplements, diets, exercise, and medical treatment.

The clinic is partly open and will be fully operational next month. According to the company's LinkedIn page, the hospital currently has around ten staff members and is looking to increase its headcount.

This move by Hoskinson is a significant step in driving the adoption of the ADA token. In June, the blockchain founder announced the launch of Nessie's restaurant and a whiskey lounge in Wyoming, where ADA is accepted as a payment option. However, this decision has received some criticism from the Cardano community, with some suggesting that Hoskinson could have opted for alternative payment options based on Cardano, such as DJED, Cardano's first decentralized algorithmic stablecoin.

The launch of Hoskinson Health & Wellness Clinic is another development in the Cardano ecosystem. It will provide medical services to the community and drive the adoption of the ADA token. However, whether the hospital will accept other significant crypto assets such as bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) remains to be seen.

Flagship Thought

There is no denying stories like these grab headlines and give some added, albeit brief, interest in the token in question. However, while I don't think being able to pay for your medical procedure or Friday drink in ADA will result in mass adoption, we will only reach the tipping point where specific cryptos do become mainstream by enabling one use case at a time that is after all how the network effect takes hold.

I do also agree that extending the payment options to a Cardano stable coin (read up on all the soon-to-launch stable coin options here) would have added even more support to the ecosystem and is something Charles' should have seriously considered.

I'm keen to hear what you think, have you ever or would you ever use your crypto to pay for day-to-day expenses like drinks at a bar or a medical procedure?