Charles Hoskinson says Midnight will be bigger than Zcash, points to 2027
Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson said Midnight will be bigger than Zcash, citing selective disclosure, private agents, ZK, TEE and MPC, and tied his claim to 2027.
Why it matters
Midnight's mainnet went live in March as a specialised layer-1 partner chain with its own ledger running alongside Cardano, and NIGHT remains small next to the privacy coins it is being measured against. The claim matters only as founder sentiment: it sets no target, carries no commitment and no fund or product was announced, so its direct effect on NIGHT pricing or on competing privacy projects is unproven.
Where the sources disagree
NIGHT market cap
$437 million
U.Today
$452 million
The Crypto Basic
around $400 million to $455 million
The Crypto Basic
near $415 million, FDV roughly $600 million
The Crypto Basic
U.Today reports $437 million from CoinGecko while The Crypto Basic reports a range of $400 million to $455 million with a CoinGecko figure near $415 million and an FDV of roughly $600 million.
NIGHT price and short-term move
$0.023 to $0.02775 in a week, +20.65%
The Crypto Basic
$0.027, up over 2% in 24 hours, more than 9% in a week, close to 30% over a fortnight, well over 36% in 30 days
CryptoPotato
around $0.032, up 13% on the day
Crypto News (CryptoNews.net)
The Crypto Basic reports a climb from around $0.023 to $0.02775 in a week, a 20.65% rise, while CryptoPotato reports $0.027 up 2% in 24 hours and over 9% in a week, and Crypto News reports around $0.032 up 13% on the day.
Key facts
Charles Hoskinson wrote that Midnight will be bigger than Zcash and closed the post with 'LFG 2027'.
Reported by U.Today
Hoskinson cited selective disclosure, private agents, a DeFi kernel for all major chains, ZK plus TEE plus MPC, Cardano's 24/7 uptime and the Leios upgrade as the reasons.
Disputed figureReported by U.Today
Hoskinson did not specify what he meant by 'bigger'.
Reported by U.Today
The Midnight mainnet went live in March as a specialised layer-1 partner chain that keeps its own ledger and processes transactions independently of Cardano.
Reported by U.Today
Weiss Crypto said NIGHT had a good chance of becoming one of the best plays of the next 24 months, a line Hoskinson quoted.
Disputed figureReported by U.Today
Crypto analyst Dan Gambardello said NIGHT is undervalued by roughly $5 billion, which only one outlet in this set reported.
5,000,000,000 USDReported by The Crypto Basic
Crypto News reported NIGHT trading around $0.032, up 13% on the day, after it flipped $0.03 resistance, with spot volume up 50% to $54 million.
0.032 USDDisputed figureReported by Crypto News (CryptoNews.net)
What happened
Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson posted on X on September 28, 2026 that Midnight will be bigger than Zcash, closing with 'LFG 2027' and listing selective disclosure, private agents, abstraction with a DeFi kernel for all major chains, zero-knowledge proofs plus trusted execution environments plus multi-party computation, and Cardano's 24/7 uptime with the Leios upgrade. U.Today reported that Hoskinson did not define what he meant by 'bigger', and put NIGHT's market cap at $437 million, ranking it 122nd by CoinGecko, against ZEC at $26.4 billion. His post came after Weiss Crypto said NIGHT had a good chance of being one of the best plays of the next 24 months, which he quoted. Crypto News later reported that the claim drew both agreement and scepticism, with DeFi Warhol arguing that two weeks of Zcash activity equal Midnight's entire record, and reported NIGHT trading around $0.032 after flipping $0.03 resistance. Separately, Crypto analyst Dan Gambardello told The Crypto Basic that NIGHT is undervalued by roughly $5 billion, a figure no other outlet in this set examined. What remains unclear is what metric Hoskinson used for 'bigger', since he did not specify and no outlet supplies one.
How the story developed
- Official statement
Hoskinson posts the bigger-than-Zcash claim on X
The post listed selective disclosure, private agents, a DeFi kernel, ZK plus TEE plus MPC, Cardano uptime and Leios, and closed with 'LFG 2027'.
- First report
First report by U.Today
Cardano Founder Says Midnight Will Be Bigger Than Zcash
- Update
Midnight mainnet goes live
The specialised layer-1 partner chain launched alongside Cardano with its own ledger.
- Official statement
Hoskinson calls Midnight the most exciting Input Output project of 2026
He said this during an extensive livestream.
- Update
Gambardello says NIGHT is undervalued by roughly $5 billion
Only The Crypto Basic carried this claim, following the Weiss Crypto assessment.
- Independent corroboration
Independently corroborated by CryptoPotato
Cardano’s NIGHT Will Be Bigger Than Zcash: Charles Hoskinson
- Update
Scepticism surfaces after the claim
Crypto News reported heated debate, with DeFi Warhol arguing two weeks of Zcash activity equals Midnight's entire record.
How coverage built up
Independent sources over time, counted the way the consensus panel counts them: a republication of a wire story does not move the line.
- 28 Sept 2026, 05:39 UTC: U.Today — 1 independent source, 1 reports
- 28 Sept 2026, 06:51 UTC: The Crypto Basic — 2 independent sources, 2 reports
- 28 Sept 2026, 20:34 UTC: CryptoPotato — 3 independent sources, 4 reports
- 30 Sept 2026, 22:31 UTC: Crypto News (CryptoNews.net) — 4 independent sources, 5 reports
Affected entities
Also mentioned: Optimism, Binance, BNB, Avalanche
Original sources
| Publisher | Report | Role | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.Today Crypto media | Cardano Founder Says Midnight Will Be Bigger Than Zcash | Original | |
| CryptoPotato Crypto media | Cardano’s NIGHT Will Be Bigger Than Zcash: Charles Hoskinson | Independent | |
| The Crypto Basic Crypto media | Cardano Founder Expects Midnight Massive Growth in 2027 | Syndicated | |
| The Crypto Basic Crypto media | Dan Gambardello Says Cardano’s Midnight Could Be Worth Billions More | Syndicated | |
| Crypto News (CryptoNews.net) Aggregator | Can Midnight become bigger than Zcash? What the market is betting on | Syndicated |
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