The token $ADA from #Cardano jumped by 5.2% to $0.70, and trading volumes increased by 40% over the day. By itself, this already looks good, but according to Charles Hoskinson, something much cooler is happening behind the scenes, and it could completely transform the Cardano ecosystem.
Cardano and Midnight
In a recent AMA, Hoskinson called the Midnight protocol the most significant economic event in the history of Cardano. Midnight is designed for cross-chain #defi and confidential smart contracts, and its main feature is to connect Cardano, Bitcoin, and other blockchains through a new infrastructure based on zk-cryptography.
Hoskinson believes that Cardano, Bitcoin, and Midnight could form a powerful trio that truly addresses complex financial challenges. By taking the security of Bitcoin and the flexibility of Cardano's smart contracts, Midnight could set entirely new standards for safe and scalable transactions.
Fairgate and operator economics
The infrastructure work for Midnight will be supported by Fairgate—a modular platform that combines both proven tools from the Cardano ecosystem (Hydra and Blockfrost) and experimental developments like Thundercloud. Anyone launching a full node or a lightweight version with the right set of tools can become a network operator. Depending on user preferences, operators will be able to provide either maximum transaction speed or ultra-high security.
Hoskinson confirmed the use of BitVMX to adapt Fairgate for support of Bitcoin Script and RISC-V architectures, ensuring long-term scalability secured by the underlying Bitcoin network.
ADA airdrop in 2025
The Midnight Foundation plans to conduct a generation of new tokens in the coming weeks. ADA holders will receive the largest share in the airdrop. Holders of other networks, such as Ethereum $ETH , Solana $SOL , and XRP Ledger, will also participate in the distribution.
Meanwhile, Hoskinson confirmed talks with global asset manager Franklin Templeton, indicating a growing interest from institutional investors in Cardano and Midnight. It seems that Cardano's vision of secure and easily interconnected financial systems is becoming increasingly closer to reality.
