Why does Charles Hoskinson think XRP needs Midnight?

Charles Hoskinson believes XRP could benefit from Midnight because it would give XRP holders greater access to DeFi applications, tokenised assets and privacy-focused financial tools. He argues that Ripple's payments network is strong, but its ecosystem has room to expand into new blockchain use cases.

What is Midnight and how does it relate to XRP?

Midnight is Cardano’s privacy-focused sidechain designed to support interoperability, compliance and real-world asset applications. Hoskinson believes it could help bring DeFi and tokenisation capabilities to XRP users without requiring them to leave the XRP ecosystem.

What did Charles Hoskinson say about Ripple's growth potential?

Hoskinson described Ripple as one of Midnight’s biggest growth opportunities. He said Ripple has already built one of crypto’s strongest payment networks but could expand further into institutional finance, DeFi and tokenised assets.

Why does Hoskinson believe XRP has limited DeFi opportunities today?

According to Hoskinson, Ripple lacks a native smart contract ecosystem comparable to those found on networks such as Ethereum or Solana. This limits XRP holders' access to lending, staking, yield generation and other DeFi services.

What does Hoskinson mean by “XRP DeFi”?

Hoskinson said developers within the Midnight ecosystem are exploring applications that could bring decentralised finance functionality to XRP holders. This could potentially include lending, borrowing, tokenisation and other smart contract-based services.

Is Cardano trying to compete directly with Ripple?

Hoskinson says no. He argues that Cardano and Ripple can work together through interoperability, with Ripple providing payments infrastructure and Midnight adding privacy, compliance and DeFi capabilities.

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Hoskinson pitches Midnight as XRP growth catalyst

Written by Mahathir BayenaPublished Jun 10, 2026, 6:50 AM

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson said Ripple could become one of the largest growth opportunities for Midnight, arguing that the privacy-focused sidechain can help expand XRP's role beyond payments into decentralised finance and tokenised assets.

Hoskinson said Ripple has already established one of the crypto industry's strongest payment networks but believes significant growth potential remains in areas such as DeFi, real-world asset tokenisation and institutional finance.

“We think Ripple is going to be one of our biggest areas of growth,”

Said Cardano founder, Charles Hoskinson.

According to Hoskinson, XRP holders currently have limited access to smart contract-based applications, yield-generating products and tokenised asset markets because Ripple lacks a native smart contract ecosystem.

He said developers within the Midnight ecosystem are already exploring XRP-related DeFi applications, adding that Cardano's long-term strategy is to enable blockchain interoperability rather than compete directly with other networks.

“We have Bitcoin DeFi. We’re going to do XRP DeFi,”

Said Cardano founder, Charles Hoskinson.

Hoskinson described Ripple alongside firms such as Tether, Circle and Binance as part of a growing "Web 2.5" economy that bridges traditional finance and blockchain technology, arguing that institutions increasingly require privacy, compliance and real-world asset infrastructure that can operate across multiple blockchain networks.

At the time of reporting, XRP price was $1.11.