Cardano Founder Charles Hoskinson Pitches Midnight as a Privacy Layer for Bitcoin and XRP

In Brief
Charles Hoskinson is pushing his latest project, Midnight Protocol, as more than just a Cardano sidechain. He’s positioning it as a cross-chain privacy layer that could bring programmable privacy to rival networks like Bitcoin and XRP Ledger.
Hoskinson Goes Cross-Chain With Privacy Play
In a December 27 post on X, Hoskinson said Midnight’s zero-knowledge proof tech could enhance competing blockchains instead of replacing them.
He argued that integrating Midnight with XRP Ledger would let the network challenge traditional banks by enabling private, compliant DeFi. For Bitcoin, he said Midnight offers programmable privacy features that BTC currently lacks.
Hoskinson also framed Midnight as a boost for Cardano itself, suggesting it could increase Cardano’s monthly active users and total value locked by expanding utility beyond the native chain.
Midnight makes what it touches better. Adding Midnight to XRP DeFi is going to blow the legacy banks out of the water. Adding Midnight to Bitcoin gives the world Satoshi imagined possible. Adding Midnight to Cardano supercharges our DeFi ecosystem and will 10x the MAUs, Transactions, and TVL as we are first to market with private DeFi at scale.
Real-World Asset Tokenization Opportunity
Beyond interoperability, Hoskinson pointed to the massive opportunity in real-world asset tokenization. He said the estimated $10 trillion market for RWAs would benefit from Midnight’s privacy design.
He criticized traditional finance firms for partnering with Canton Network, a permissioned blockchain, arguing that partial solutions don’t meet what institutions actually need.
There are no half measures or half technologies. You need an end-to-end strategy, great partners, and great communities.
This marks a shift for Hoskinson, who typically focuses on building within Cardano. By promoting Midnight as a privacy layer for other Layer-1 blockchains, he’s trying to tap into liquidity and users beyond Cardano’s existing network.
Speculative Interest in NIGHT Token Surges
The strategy has sparked growing speculative interest in Midnight’s native token, NIGHT. CoinGecko data showed the asset recently topped Bitcoin and Ethereum in search volume on the platform’s trending list.
But the token has been extremely volatile since launching earlier this month. The price has dropped more than 80% to $0.08 as of press time, according to Cryptowakeup data.
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