Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson announced two major developments at Consensus Hong Kong 2026. LayerZero integration aims to boost Cardano’s interoperability for institutional finance, while the privacy-focused Midnight blockchain confirmed a mainnet launch for late March. Following the news, ADA’s price rose approximately 5%, and the Midnight token NIGHT gained roughly 7% over 24 hours.
Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson announced the integration of cross-chain protocol LayerZero into the Cardano blockchain. The move, revealed during his keynote at Consensus Hong Kong 2026, is expected to enhance interoperability and support high-performance financial applications. A major part involves the planned launch of USDCx on Cardano with support from major wallets and exchanges.
Hoskinson also confirmed that the privacy-focused partner chain Midnight is scheduled for a mainnet launch in the final week of March. Unlike traditional blockchains, Midnight will allow “rational privacy,” keeping transactions private by default but permitting selective disclosure. Hoskinson introduced the Midnight City Simulation as an interactive demo to showcase these functions.
He noted that major companies like Google and Telegram are already involved in the broader initiative. “Google is one of them. Telegram is another. We’re really excited, there’s more that will come,” Hoskinson stated. The LayerZero protocol recently gained backing from Citadel Securities, positioning it as infrastructure for institutional-grade markets.
Following the announcements, ADA’s price climbed roughly 4-5% in 24 hours, moving from near $0.252 to above $0.265. The token’s Relative Strength Index pushed into the mid-60s while its Moving Average Convergence Divergence indicator stayed positive. Meanwhile, the Midnight token NIGHT posted a stronger intraday gain of around 6-7%, rallying from the $0.048 area to above $0.051.
Cardano’s Total Value Locked has seen growth waves tied to previous upgrades, rising from about $150 million in late 2023 to briefly exceed $700 million in early 2025. This growth coincided with the rollout of on-chain governance and early real-world asset projects. The latest developments align with the Cardano Foundation’s roadmap focused on decentralized finance and institutional readiness.
