Cardano Announces Airdrop Amid Brewing Ripple Partnership
Charles Hoskinson confirmed an incoming airdrop for Cardano’s Midnight project amid the intensifying rumors about their brewing partnership with Ripple. Cardano (ADA) seems to be on its way to staging its...
- Charles Hoskinson confirmed an incoming airdrop for Cardano’s Midnight project amid the intensifying rumors about their brewing partnership with Ripple.
Cardano (ADA) seems to be on its way to staging its biggest comeback this year. After hints of a brewing partnership with Ripple, the chain’s founder, Charles Hoskinson, confirmed an incoming airdrop to mark the arrival of the Midnight sidechain.
Cardano’s Midnight Airdrop Coming Up
On April 9, Hoskinson announced that Cardano will make an airdrop to qualified 37 million users across eight blockchains. In addition to its native chain, the airdrop will be held on Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple, Solana (SOL), Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Avalanche (AVAX), and Polygon (MATIC) chains.
The event aligns with Cardano’s upcoming Midnight sidechain, which leverages zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs to boost user privacy. It is mainly designed to enhance efficiency, security, and cost-effectiveness at the Cardano network at the smart contract execution level. The sidechain’s NIGHT governance token and DUST privacy transaction token will be distributed during the occasion.
Midnight features “chain abstraction.” It allows users from different blockchains to interact with it, alongside its associated tokens, without needing conversion.
Along the way, Hoskinson patiently lectured the participants about the development process of blockchain tech. According to him, it includes the following phases:
- Centering on decentralization like on Bitcoin.
- Support for smart contracts similar to Ethereum
- Scalability and interoperability for growing transactions and interaction with various chains
- Focus on enhanced privacy, which Midnight is looking to address
Hoskinson’s statement comes hot on the heels of speculations about an incoming huge partnership announcement between Cardano and Ripple. XRPL’s inclusion in the Midnight sidechain appears to be only the tip of the iceberg, as Cardano is rumored to be ironing stronger ties with Stellar (XLM) and further ironing out integration with the Bitcoin ecosystem.
In November 2024, Hoskinson confirmed a meeting with John McCaleb, former Ripple CTO and Stellar’s developer. He declined to offer more information about the matter. Still, the rumor mill has it that Cardano was tapping McCaleb’s ties with Ripple to start talks about merging some Cardano projects within the XRP ecosystem and Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin cross-border payment systems.
Last week, the topic intensified as Ripple released its new ad centering on tokenization. Interestingly, attentive observers immediately noticed that the video started with a coin bearing the logo and label of Cardano. Although the ad never mentioned Cardano or ADA past its three-second introduction, it left the ADA, XRP, and broader crypto community to speculate what may be in store for them from these two powerhouses in the digital assets sector.
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Giancarlo is an economist by profession with a career spanning nearly two decades. His professional journey has seen him assume vital roles in various government and private organizations such as the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Megaworld Corporation, and the China Banking Corporation in the Republic of the Philippines. In addition to his civic and corporate pursuits, his forward-thinking approach has led him to manage several prominent websites in the banking and finance sector, notably the Australia-based RateChoice, where he immersed himself in the world of emerging financial technologies and where he found particular interest in Bitcoin all the way back to 2013. Prior to his addition to Blockzeit’s dynamic team, he held an essential role as Project Manager for initiatives encompassing blockchain, stablecoin, mining, special economic zone development, and iGaming. This noteworthy chapter in his career unfolded under the auspices of InPlan Consultancy Services, Inc., the think-tank of IMPERO Consortium Management Corporation headquartered in Manila, Philippines, and Tokyo, Japan. InPlan, led by a distinguished retired Cabinet member of the Philippines, collaborates directly with IMPERO's core management team, contributing to strategic planning and business development endeavors.
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