Cardano Founder Sets March Launch for Midnight as Expert Predicts BTC Shift to Privacy Coins

Cardano Founder Charles Hoskinson has confirmed the privacy-based blockchain Midnight’s mainnet would launch in March. This comes as demand for privacy coins, as an expert predicts a major shift in capital from Bitcoin to these assets.

Midnight Mainnet Launch Set for March, Hoskinson Confirms

Charles Hoskinson announced that the final week of March would see the official launch of the mainnet of the firm’s privacy blockchain. The news was announced as part of a keynote address given by Hoskinson at the Consensus Hong Kong conference.

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The Cardano ecosystem had seen the launch of Midnight’s NIGHT token last December after the conclusion of its massive airdrop. The coin was listed on major exchanges such as Binance amid high demand.

Hoskinson highlighted at the conference the development of the mainnet and key partnerships that would enable its launch next month.

“The very first version of Midnight is launching and se have some great partners to help us run it. Google is one of them. Telegram is another. We’re really excited, there’s more that will come,” he said.

Alongside this mainnet rollout, Hoskinson also launched Midnight City Simulation. This is an interactive tool that provides a glimpse into how the platform allows for scalable privacy through selective disclosure. The concept of rational privacy ensures that the information exchanged is private by default. Meanwhile, it can be shared for identified parties when necessary.

The founder also added that they currently have no intentions of adding more privacy-focused maxis onto its chain. According to Hoskinson, the basic idea behind privacy is nothing like as simplistic as people in Monero or Zcash social circles would like to believe.

“What Monero and ZCash have been trying to convince people is it’s like a light switch. We’re private. The switch is on. Everybody else is not. The switch is off. That’s not how that works,” he said.

Expert Sees Bitcoin Capital Rotating Into Privacy Coins

Crypto expert and CEO of Digital Currency Group Barry Silbert predicted that privacy coins like Midnight could receive capital inflows rotating from Bitcoin. He said that financial privacy is the “next big asymmetric bet” for the crypto industry.

“I am incredibly bullish about Bitcoin… but I like to invest in projects that are transformative and have 100, 500, 1,000x type return opportunities,” he said. “Unless the U.S. dollar completely collapses, Bitcoin is not going to go up 500x. I think Zcash can go up 500x.”

Sibert also said that 5% to 10% of Bitcoin could move to privacy coins over the next few years. Notably, Midnight has continued to position itself for this capital inflow through developments such as the Layer Zero integration.

The CEO remained bullish in BTC but recognizes that the old narrative of it being “anonymous cash” is no longer true. Silbert was also doubtful whether the first blockchain would ever be private. This is even with the obvious need for digital money while remaining private.