Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson said ADA holders don’t need to sell ADA to buy Midnight’s NIGHT token. He explained the point during a December 2025 appearance on the Discover Crypto podcast. “They’re complimentary. They do different things,” Hoskinson said, rejecting claims that NIGHT could replace ADA.
Midnight Network Launches NIGHT on Cardano Rails
Midnight Network positions itself as a privacy-first smart contract blockchain. Its documentation says the network uses zero-knowledge proofs (ZK proofs) to help developers build confidential decentralized applications, or dApps. The NIGHT token launched in early December 2025 as a Cardano Native Asset, according to Midnight’s official redemption guide.
Midnight’s Glacier Drop distribution minted the entire 24 billion NIGHT supply for allocation. Cardano wallets received 50% of the total supply. Bitcoin wallets received 20%. Ethereum, Solana, XRP Ledger, BNB Chain, Avalanche, Brave Wallet assets, and one other qualifying ecosystem split the remaining 30%. The project took the Glacier Drop snapshot on June 11, 2025. Phase 1 claims opened from August 5 to October 20, 2025. Hoskinson described the allocation as proof that Midnight prioritized ADA holders first.
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“ChatGPT of Privacy,” but Not a Competing Token
Hoskinson compared Midnight to “the ChatGPT of privacy” to explain its infrastructure role, not to claim product equivalence. “Midnight is the ChatGPT of privacy. That’s its job. It’s a blockchain-to-blockchain infrastructure module,” he said. He explained that Midnight gives Cardano apps optional privacy features while ADA continues to secure Cardano staking, governance, and consensus.
Midnight’s randomized thaw schedule shows that 4.5 billion NIGHT tokens were claimed by 170,000+ wallets, representing 19% of the total supply. The claimed tokens unlock over 360 days in equal quarterly releases. Midnight’s team said the randomized thaw prevents the same supply from unlocking on Cardano and Midnight at once.
Hoskinson used the opportunity to contextualize Midnight’s value proposition within broader blockchain liquidity trends. He emphasized that Midnight’s privacy tooling was intended as infrastructure for developers, not a claim on liquidity or value classification against other blockchains.
Further Reading:Cardano (ADA) Founder Charles Hoskinson is Blatantly Promoting Midnight Airdrop — Why?
He also touched on a thesis that liquidity — particularly from Bitcoin (BTC) markets — tends to flow toward networks with yield opportunities, credit markets, and real-world utilities, suggesting that compatible architectures can influence cross-chain participation without requiring holders to sell underlying assets. Hoskinson cited Cardano’s UTXO (Unspent Transaction Output) transaction model — the same type used by Bitcoin — as a factor that could reduce technical friction for cross-chain interactions.