Cardano Revival Underway, Says Founder Charles Hoskinson - Crypto Economy

TL;DR

• Hoskinson states Cardano is healthy post-hack, focusing on four key pillars.
• Midnight’s airdrop is labeled the largest token distribution in crypto history.
• The event aims to unlock Cardano’s stalled DeFi pipeline and attract TVL.

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Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson opened his November 25 broadcast by asserting that, despite the recent hack, FBI involvement, and social-media uproar, “overall, Cardano is really healthy.” He explained that the protocol issues stemming from the incident are largely resolved. “We recovered… we’re on the other side of it, we’re in cleanup mode,” he said, predicting that Cardano will “finish pretty strong towards the end of the year.”

Hoskinson framed the network’s revival around four pillars: the Midnight privacy-focused ecosystem, RealFi lending, a renewed DeFi strategy, and a more aggressive scaling roadmap. He emphasized that these initiatives are now moving from theory into implementation, with concrete milestones scheduled for late 2024 and extending into 2026.

Midnight’s Glacier Drop at the Core

At the center of the recovery plan is Midnight’s Glacier Drop event. Hoskinson read from a “State of the Network” memo prepared by the Midnight Foundation, describing the airdrop as “the largest distribution event in the history of cryptocurrencies.” He added, “This is not puffery, we have the numbers.” The Scavenger Mine phase closed on November 20 with over 4.5 billion NIGHT claims registered across more than 8 million addresses.

Hoskinson called Midnight’s architecture a new standard for token distribution, blending broad community-driven allocation with mechanisms designed to increase fairness and systemic integrity. He suggested the design could serve as a template for future Cardano-native launches, especially in contexts with rising regulatory and governance demands.

The airdrop enters a 450-day redemption window starting December 8, with NIGHT unlocking in four equal installments. A “lost and found” mechanism allows users who recover private keys to still redeem tokens. Hoskinson presented this as an incentive for custodial platforms holding dormant balances.

“As Midnight goes up in value, they realize that they can redeem on behalf of their users and do an exchange distribution and take their cut,” he explained. Kraken, OKX, Bitpanda, and NBX will distribute NIGHT to eligible KYC’d clients, potentially reaching tens of millions of users. December 8 will also mark the token’s trading debut, featuring tier-one listings for a Cardano native asset ahead of a federated Midnight mainnet scheduled for Q1.

Unblocking Cardano’s DeFi Pipeline

Hoskinson stressed that Midnight is more than a headline-grabbing airdrop. He described it as the practical lever to unlock Cardano’s stalled DeFi pipeline and accelerate ecosystem growth. He highlighted 2024 milestones, including launching the on-chain Treasury, executing the first Treasury payout, and fully decentralizing the Constitutional Committee.

However, he admitted the ecosystem lagged behind in integrations and DeFi growth, citing coordination challenges. With Midnight now in production, Hoskinson argued that in 2026, “there’s no optionality. It must get done.” He described the organization as aggressively driving progress, “kicking and screaming if necessary.”

The Midnight Foundation will adopt an active DeFi posture, unlike the more reserved Cardano Foundation. Hoskinson explained that direct engagement in liquidity and protocol deployment could accelerate network effects and attract substantial TVL, positioning Cardano for renewed momentum in decentralized finance.