Cardano Founder Says ADA Holders Don’t Need to Sell ADA for NIGHT

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has responded to questions from community members about whether they should sell ADA to buy Midnight (NIGHT).

Since Midnight’s introduction, its development team, alongside Hoskinson, has actively promoted the project across multiple platforms. They position it as a solution that enables developers to build privacy smart contracts. Interest surged further earlier this month after NIGHT debuted on exchanges, hitting new highs and recording substantial trading volume.

Given the successful launch and sustained promotion from Hoskinson and other prominent Cardano figures, speculation has intensified. Community members now ask whether selling ADA for NIGHT makes sense, with some even suggesting that NIGHT could replace ADA.

Hoskinson Disagrees

Hoskinson has addressed the issue during a recent episode of the Discover Crypto podcast. He clarified that NIGHT was designed to extend ADA’s capabilities, not to replace it. According to him, the two tokens complement each other, serving distinct purposes within the ecosystem.

Specifically, Hoskinson said Midnight’s core role is to function as the “ChatGPT of privacy” for Cardano decentralized applications. In practice, Midnight provides a privacy infrastructure that enables Cardano dApps to operate with enhanced confidentiality.

Cardano Gets First-Mover Advantage

While Hoskinson expects Midnight’s adoption to span multiple blockchain networks, he believes Cardano dApps will lead the way as the earliest adopters of Midnight’s privacy solutions. In his view, Midnight will give dApps on Cardano an edge in competing for users.

Another key benefit Hoskinson highlighted is Midnight’s decision to prioritize Cardano by rolling out its features to the network first. He pointed to the NIGHT airdrop as clear evidence of this approach, noting that ADA holders received the largest allocation.

Specifically, 50% of NIGHT’s total 24 billion supply went to ADA holders, while the remaining seven blockchains, including Bitcoin and the XRP Ledger, shared the remainder.

Positioned as a Suitable Destination for Bitcoin DeFi

Hoskinson then broadened the discussion by outlining a wider cross-chain liquidity thesis, identifying Bitcoin DeFi as a major potential source of future capital inflows into Cardano.

He recalled a previous projection in which he suggested that Bitcoin DeFi’s total value locked (TVL) could eventually surpass Ethereum’s entire market capitalization, which stood at around $520 billion at the time.

He described Bitcoin as largely agnostic capital, not bound by loyalty to any single blockchain. Instead, Bitcoin liquidity tends to flow toward ecosystems that offer the most accessible yield opportunities, credit markets, and real-world utility.

From this perspective, Hoskinson argued that Cardano stands out as a natural destination. He cited its UTXO-based model, which closely aligns with Bitcoin’s own architecture and reduces friction for cross-chain participation.