Hoskinson Predicts Midnight Will Surpass Zcash

Charles Hoskinson predicted on September 28 that Midnight would become bigger than Zcash. He cited selective disclosure, private agents, a DeFi kernel for major chains, and a combination of zero-knowledge proofs, trusted execution environments, and multiparty computation. He also connected his outlook to Cardano and its Leios scaling work, ending the post with a reference to 2027.

Midnight’s Plan for Private Applications

Midnight is a Cardano partner chain built for applications that need to use sensitive information without publishing it on a public blockchain. Developers can define which data stays private and which result becomes available for verification. An application could confirm that someone meets an age requirement, for example, without revealing their date of birth.

Hoskinson’s reference to private agents concerns software acting on a user’s behalf. In a September overview of Midnight partner integrations, Fireblocks said its SDK supports delegated access governed by user-set policies, giving developers a way to define which actions an agent may perform.

Midnight’s mainnet began operating in March 2026. Its initial stage uses federated block producers and introduces applications in phases. The network’s privacy model allows private information held by a user to interact with public smart contract state through zero-knowledge proofs.

How Zcash and Midnight Approach Privacy

Zcash is an established network focused on digital payments. ZEC holders can make transparent or shielded transactions. They can also grant an authorized party access to information about a shielded address through a viewing key.

Selective access to private information is therefore available on Zcash as well.

Midnight applies privacy controls to the rules and data used by applications.

Developers can build smart contracts that verify a condition while keeping selected inputs private. That design can support credentials, financial services, and other uses where an application needs an answer without publishing the underlying record.

Midnight also separates its transferable token, NIGHT, from DUST, the nontransferable resource used to pay for transactions and smart contract activity. Holders can register NIGHT to generate DUST without spending the token to cover each Midnight transaction.

Cross-Chain DeFi and Cardano’s Role

The Midnight Foundation reported in August that VIA Labs had launched cross-chain messaging on Midnight. It allows smart contracts to communicate with applications on other networks. The Foundation described uses ranging from asset transfers to verifying private information on Midnight and sharing the result with an external application. Its September overview also described agent actions across chains under rules set by users.

Cardano provides another direct connection: NIGHT held on Cardano can be registered to generate DUST for activity on Midnight. The two chains nevertheless process transactions on separate ledgers. Hoskinson also cited Leios, Cardano’s scaling upgrade, which remains in development; it is not an active Midnight feature.

Hoskinson did not define whether “bigger” means more users, greater application activity, wider cross-chain reach, or higher market value. His comparison brings together Zcash’s established shielded payment network and Midnight’s expanding infrastructure for private applications. Cross-chain messaging and Cardano-linked DUST generation are already in place; the DeFi kernel spanning major chains and broader use of private agents form the next stage of the vision he set out for 2027.