Charles Hoskinson Further Fuels Speculations About Cardano’s Bromance With XRP

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson highlighted how the Midnight sidechain could enhance XRP’s capabilities, reinforcing its push to take over the cross-border payments and DeFi sectors.
Ripple CTO Emeritus David Schwartz’s acknowledgment of the privacy-focused sidechain sparked further discussion.

The bromance between Cardano (ADA) and XRP continues to gain traction. Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano and CEO of Input Output (IO), recently forecasted that the integration of privacy-focused Midnight (NIGHT) sidechain with XRP “will blow the legacy banks out of the water.”

Hoskinson’s comment came as Midnight emerged on top of Coingecko’s Top 20 Trending Coins last week. It notably surpassed larger Layer 1 (L1) chains, including Bitcoin (BTC), Solana (SOL), Canton Network (CC), Ethereum (ETH), and XRP. As of the New Year celebrations, it remained on the list, albeit sliding to the 11th place in the US rankings.

What Midnight Offers to XRP

The IO CEO highlighted, “Midnight makes what it touches better.” It offers zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) to enable confidential smart contracts, enhancing privacy in networks that require them while remaining compliant with regulations.

Hoskinson emphasized that the sidechain is the first to market private decentralized finance (DeFi) at scale. Hence, it paves the way for the fourth generation of blockchain, also known as Blockchain 4.0.

For XRP, the integration with Midnight would mean its transition from a pure settlement asset to a multi-purpose DeFi powerhouse. It would enable the XRP Ledger (XRPL) to unlock programmable confidentiality, allowing institutions to hide non-regulatory-mandated information across transactions to prevent on-chain data oversharing that bad actors could exploit in their illicit activities.

Hoskinson’s latest comments, backed by several members of the crypto community, fueled further speculations of a brewing collaboration between XRP and Cardano, which would likely involve IO and Ripple. Interestingly, David Schwartz, CTO emeritus of Ripple, even added hype to the conversation.

One user on social media recently goaded Schwartz into posting, “I hereby acknowledge midnight.” While the Ripple exec appeared to have made the statement in jest, his participation in the discussion suggests he’s keeping tabs on the privacy sidechain.

Cardano Staging a Huge Comeback in 2026

Beyond XRP, Hoskinson believes that Midnight would enable Bitcoin to realize pseudonymous inventor Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision. Additionally, he stated that Midnight would supercharge Cardano’s DeFi ecosystem by tenfold.

Previously, Hoskinson admitted during a heated debate with Canton’s founder, Yuval Rooz, that Cardano has been lagging in DeFi performance, but boldly claimed it would see a significant boost this year.

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Giancarlo Perlas

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.