Cardano's 2026 Vision: Hoskinson Addresses Criticisms and Charts Growth Path
📌 Addressing Adoption Concerns and Laying Out the Future
💧 Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, recently addressed concerns surrounding the project's adoption, liquidity, interoperability, and marketing in a live AMA on November 1. Hoskinson directly refuted what he described as "adversarial" claims, outlining a comprehensive strategy for growth by 2026. This plan hinges on the Midnight partner-chain, cross-ecosystem bridges, a proactive marketing approach, and a clearer system of accountability based on key performance indicators (KPIs).
💱 The discussion arose from a community post highlighting seven alleged shortcomings hindering Cardano's progress, including the absence of USDC/USDT, critically low liquidity/TVL, significant network congestion, minimal on-chain adoption, limited marketing impact, deficient interoperability/bridges, and scarce tier-one exchange support for Cardano native tokens. Hoskinson countered these claims, asserting they misrepresented the current state of the network and ignored upcoming developments, while conflating base-layer participation with DeFi engagement.
📌 Stablecoins, TVL, and User Conversion
💱 The stablecoin debate was a key point of contention. Hoskinson acknowledged the need for more stablecoins but highlighted existing options like USDM and USDA, which are asset-backed and readily mintable. He stated,
“There is this belief […] that if somehow, someway Tether or Circle came to Cardano, then magically all of our DeFi problems would be solved […] I do agree that there’s not enough stablecoins issued, but remember we have USDM, we have USDA. They don’t dip. They’re asset-backed […] and we can mint them all the time. I’ve personally minted them myself.”
💱 Regarding Total Value Locked (TVL) and adoption metrics, Hoskinson differentiated between DeFi figures and broader on-chain activity. He noted that while Cardano's TVL is around $680 million, over 1.3 million users are participating in governance or staking, with more than 15 billion ADA staked.
“It is absolutely valid that there’s about $680 million in TVL on Cardano. But […] we have 1.3 million people participating in either governance or staking […] more than 15 billion ADA […] We don’t get to count that in our TVL. Ethereum does […] but we don’t.”
He emphasized that the primary challenge is converting existing Cardano users into DeFi participants, stating that if Cardano users actively engaged with Cardano DeFi, the TVL could potentially increase to between
$5 and $10 billion.
📌 Midnight: A Catalyst for Interoperability and Adoption
🚀 Hoskinson positioned Midnight, the privacy-focused partner chain, as a key solution to address interoperability issues and drive exchange coverage for Cardano native tokens. Scheduled for launch soon, Midnight aims to resolve many existing concerns, with its native token designed to be a Cardano-native asset.
🔗 “[It] resolves pretty much all those concerns,” he said, adding that the token would be a Cardano-native asset with “tier one exchange listings,” “over a 100 partnerships,” and connectivity to “eight ecosystems, seven blockchains—Ethereum, Bitcoin, Solana, Binance Smart Chain, XRP, Avalanche, and obviously Cardano.”
💱 Midnight is intended to facilitate cross-chain capital flow and encourage DeFi participation on Cardano. Hoskinson also previewed the distribution mechanics, suggesting it would be the largest airdrop in crypto history, potentially reaching over a million addresses.
On the stablecoin front, Hoskinson anticipates a resolution by 2026 through Midnight's negotiation power and a "recursive snark bridge" between Midnight and Cardano, enabling native issuance on Midnight into Cardano.
📌 Addressing Scaling Concerns and Showcasing Technological Progress
Hoskinson refuted claims of severe network congestion, noting that blocks are only partially full most of the time, questioning the existence of a significant throughput problem. He also defended Cardano's scaling solutions, emphasizing that Hydra is operational on the mainnet, used in the Glacier drop, and has reached version 1.0. He cited the loading of 33.6 million eligible addresses into a Hydra head for the Glacier drop at a total cost of less than five figures as evidence of efficiency.
Regarding Leios, Cardano's data availability/throughput track, Hoskinson announced the completion of the SIP and plans for the release of linear Leios next year, alongside a monthly R&D cadence and progress website. He linked these efforts to partner-chain finality work and recursive SNARKs, asserting that Cardano is scaling in a decentralized, resilient manner while enhancing throughput.
📌 Refocusing on Marketing and Governance
💱 Acknowledging underperformance in marketing, Hoskinson pledged to personally drive an event-centric push in 2026, planning four major events per year and inviting top dApps and DeFi projects to participate. He also highlighted the need for clearer accountability for Cardano's growth, criticizing the lack of a single entity responsible for driving adoption.
🔗 He repeatedly stressed the absence of a single entity accountable for growth. “There is nobody currently accountable […] for the growth of Cardano. If it’s no one’s problem, everyone’s problem is no one’s problem.” The remedy, in his view, is a 2026 framework of delegated authority with explicit KPIs across MAUs, transaction volume, TVL, active dApps, developer counts, integrations and blockchain-to-blockchain partnerships.
🤝 Hoskinson contrasted the Midnight Foundation's proactive approach with the Cardano Foundation's perceived silence regarding Midnight partnerships and listings, highlighting the importance of unified messaging and internal collaboration for overall success.
📌 Strategic Initiatives: Africa, Bitcoin DeFi, and Partnerships
💱 Hoskinson emphasized that IO is developing Cardano-native DeFi applications for 2026 and reaffirmed the ongoing Africa microfinance initiative. He addressed claims of abandoning Africa, stating that lending operations are continuing, with plans to integrate microfinance and banking services in 2026, which he believes will be a significant contributor to Cardano's TVL.
💱 The integration of Bitcoin DeFi was also highlighted, enabling the lending and conversion of Bitcoin and ADA into stablecoins, potentially attracting billions of dollars in TVL to the Cardano network. Hoskinson also mentioned ongoing conversations and integrations with Near, Tezos, and Algorand.
Hoskinson addressed the narrative around developer experience, asserting that it is outdated with the introduction of Aiken and continuous improvements to Plutus, StarStream, and various L2 solutions. He emphasized Cardano's commitment to decentralization, resilience, interoperability with Bitcoin, and partner chains, with a focus on adoption moving forward.
📌 Stakeholder Positions
Here's a summary of the key stakeholders and their positions regarding Cardano's development and adoption challenges:
| Stakeholder |
Position |
| Charles Hoskinson (Cardano Founder) |
Defends Cardano, outlines growth plan, emphasizes Midnight and scaling solutions. |
| Cardano Community (Critics) |
💰 Raises concerns about adoption, liquidity, interoperability, and marketing. |
| Midnight Foundation |
Proactively pursuing partnerships and integrations to drive adoption. |
| Cardano Foundation |
Perceived lack of promotion for Midnight partnerships and integrations. |
📌 🔑 Key Takeaways
💱 Charles Hoskinson addressed criticisms about Cardano's adoption and laid out a strategic roadmap focusing on the Midnight partner-chain to boost interoperability and DeFi participation. This aims to directly tackle concerns about low TVL and limited user conversion.
The Midnight project is positioned as a key driver for Cardano's growth, promising the largest airdrop in crypto history, along with improved stablecoin solutions and cross-chain connectivity, potentially attracting significant capital from other ecosystems.
Hoskinson defended Cardano's scaling capabilities, highlighting the operational Hydra solution and upcoming Leios improvements, which are designed to enhance throughput while maintaining decentralization and resilience—core values of the Cardano network.
A renewed focus on marketing and governance, including event-driven initiatives and a delegated authority framework with clear KPIs, seeks to address concerns about the lack of a unified growth strategy and accountability within the Cardano ecosystem.
💱 Ongoing initiatives in Africa, the integration of Bitcoin DeFi, and strategic partnerships are aimed at expanding Cardano's reach and utility, potentially driving significant TVL growth and attracting new users to the network. Investors should carefully assess the progress of these initiatives as key indicators of long-term success and adoption.
🔮 Thoughts & Predictions
Cardano's future hinges significantly on the successful launch and integration of the Midnight chain. If Midnight fulfills its promise of seamless cross-chain interoperability and enhanced privacy, we could see a substantial influx of capital and users into the Cardano ecosystem. However, execution is key. Past criticisms regarding delayed roadmap items still linger. The success of the Africa microfinance initiative, and its integration with Bitcoin DeFi will be critical metrics to watch. A misstep with either could significantly impact investor sentiment.
🎯 Investor Action Tips
- Closely monitor the launch and initial performance of the Midnight chain, paying particular attention to user adoption, transaction volumes, and the establishment of cross-chain bridges with Ethereum and Bitcoin.
- Track progress on the Africa microfinance initiative and its integration with Bitcoin DeFi, as this could provide early signals of Cardano's ability to attract substantial TVL and establish real-world utility.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of Cardano's marketing push in 2026, focusing on event attendance, dApp participation, and overall community engagement, as these factors will play a crucial role in driving adoption and improving market sentiment.
- Stay informed about developments regarding Cardano's scaling solutions, such as Hydra and Leios, to assess the network's ability to handle increased transaction volumes and maintain decentralization as adoption grows.
📘 Glossary for Investors
⚖️ Recursive SNARKs: A cryptographic proof that can verify other proofs, allowing for efficient scaling and enhanced privacy in blockchain networks.
⚖️ Hydra: A layer 2 scaling solution for Cardano that enables faster and cheaper transactions through off-chain processing.
🧭 Context of the Day
Today's investors should focus on Cardano's long-term strategic vision and integration of key scaling initiatives to determine sustained future growth.
