Cardano Creator Charles Hoskinson Makes a Bold Midnight Prediction, Says It Will Be Bigger Than Zcash

A major privacy blockchain shake-up could be brewing, and Input Output Global (IOG) founder Charles Hoskinson thinks Midnight could be at the center.

In a striking forecast, Hoskinson says Midnight, the privacy-focused blockchain that operates as a Cardano partner chain, could eventually outgrow Zcash. If that prediction plays out, Midnight could emerge as a major contender in the privacy-crypto space and reshape the competitive landscape for blockchain privacy.

Why Hoskinson Thinks Midnight Will Surpass Zcash

NIGHT is starting to turn heads. The native token powering Cardano’s privacy-focused Midnight sidechain has jumped from roughly $0.023 to $0.028 in just one week, delivering a gain of about 21%.

The sharp move has also caught the attention of Weiss Crypto, which suggested that NIGHT could rank among the strongest-performing crypto investments over the next 24 months, adding another layer of intrigue to the token’s recent rally.

Hoskinson welcomed Weiss Crypto’s bullish assessment, then highlighted several features he believes could give Midnight an edge over established privacy networks.

The Cardano founder posited that Midnight could eventually surpass Zcash, citing a range of potential growth catalysts. These include private agents, a decentralized finance (DeFi) kernel built to support major blockchains, selective disclosure, and a technology stack combining zero-knowledge proofs (ZK), trusted execution environments (TEEs), and multiparty computation (MPC). Together, these features could give Midnight a broader privacy toolkit and expand its potential use cases across the wider blockchain ecosystem.

His latest comments come as he continues to make the case for Midnight, highlighting why he believes the project could take a very different path from privacy heavyweights such as Zcash.

During a livestream earlier this year, the Cardano founder singled out the privacy-focused blockchain as one of Input Output’s most exciting projects of 2026, fueling speculation over just how big its ambitions could become.

He also pointed to the project’s unusually rapid rollout, arguing that Midnight is moving through the hurdles that typically slow down new crypto projects at a much faster pace.

“Usually it takes about two to three years for a token to go through all these trials and tribulations, but Midnight lives in fast mode,” he opined at the time.

Zcash’s Breakout Run Puts NIGHT’s Ambitions to the Test

Hoskinson did not clarify what he meant by “bigger,” leaving it open whether he meant market value, adoption, utility, or something else. For now, the numbers show a substantial gap. NIGHT has a market capitalization of roughly $432 million, ranking it around 122nd among cryptocurrencies, according to CoinGecko data.

Zcash, meanwhile, sits in a completely different league. ZEC’s market cap stands at approximately $26.50 billion, placing it among the top 10 crypto assets.

ZEC has delivered a staggering run. The privacy coin started 2025 at roughly $56 before exploding to around $750 later that year. The rally has only accelerated in 2026, with ZEC gaining more than 100% and smashing through $1,600 over the weekend to hit $1,674.

The contrast underscores just how ambitious Hoskinson’s prediction is, with Midnight currently representing only a fraction of Zcash’s market value.

Despite Zcash’s explosive market performance, Hoskinson remains bullish on Midnight’s long-term potential. His case rests on Midnight’s combination of privacy technology, programmable smart contracts, cross-chain DeFi functionality, and Cardano’s underlying infrastructure, which he believes could give the project a major advantage as it scales.