Cardano Founder Takes Aim at XRP and Solana: Inside the Crypto Rivalry Heating Up in 2025
Charles Hoskinson just lobbed another grenade into the crypto arena. The Cardano founder's latest comments have put XRP and Solana squarely in the crosshairs, sparking fresh debate about protocol legitimacy and market positioning as the sector matures.
The Shot Across the Bow
It wasn't a technical whitepaper or a roadmap update that lit the fuse this time. Instead, a series of pointed public remarks from Hoskinson questioned the foundational narratives of two major layer-1 competitors. For XRP, the critique centered on utility and regulatory clarity—or the perceived lack thereof. For Solana, the barbs targeted network stability and the trade-offs of prioritizing raw speed over decentralization. The subtext is clear: in the race for blockchain supremacy, not all approaches are created equal.
Why the Smoke Now?
Timing is everything. With institutional adoption accelerating and regulatory frameworks slowly taking shape, the battle for developer mindshare and user trust has entered a new, more consequential phase. Projects are being scrutinized not just on promises, but on proven, peer-reviewed execution. Hoskinson's comments reflect a broader industry pivot toward demanding provable security and rigorous academic foundations—a domain where Cardano has staked its reputation. It's a high-stakes game of positioning where today's criticism can become tomorrow's market narrative.
The Ripple Effect
Don't expect the targeted communities to stay quiet. The crypto ecosystem thrives on—and is often defined by—these public rivalries. They fuel development, sharpen messaging, and give traders ample narrative fodder. For every critique of "centralization" or "instability," expect counter-arguments about "real-world adoption" and "user experience." This back-and-forth is the lifeblood of a market that still prices vision as aggressively as it does volume. After all, in a world where a catchy meme can mint a billionaire, a founder's well-timed jab is just another form of business development.
The takeaway? The fight for the soul of the next financial system is getting personal. And as the heavyweights trade blows, remember: in crypto, the most valuable protocol isn't always the one with the best tech—it's often the one that tells the most compelling story. Just ask your portfolio manager trying to explain this to a skeptical client over a three-martini lunch.
The Midnight (NIGHT) Token Launch That Changed Everything
Earlier this month, a new token rocked the crypto sphere as the Midnight (NIGHT) went live with its airdrop. At first, the token looked to be off to a slow start, crashing by over 90% from its launch $1.81 all-time high to reach below $0.025. This had made widespread news as airdrop claimers rushed to dump their tokens.
However, what seemed like a dead drop has begun to change, with the Midnight (NIGHT) token moving fast and taking the cardano network along for the ride. As Bitcoinist reported, the token launch had essentially reignited interest in the Cardano blockchain, leading to over 122,000 transactions containing NIGHT tokens.
Midnight, which is a side chain of the Cardano network, focuses on investor privacy, leveraging the recent privacy narrative that has taken hold in the crypto market. With a large number of airdrop claimers having collected their tokens, and presumably sold, the token has begun to recover.
On Sunday, market reports showed that Midnight (NIGHT) was one of the best-performing altcoins in the market, rising over 30% in a 24-hour period. On the weekly chart, it showed a 44% increase, as its market cap ROSE above $1.5 billion again. However, that is not the thing that caught the Cardano founder’s eye.
Cardano Founder Trolls XRP And Solana With Midnight (NIGHT)
With the Midnight (NIGHT) token price soaring, there was a major spike in its trading volume, enough to catch the attention of Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson. Stakepool had taken to X (formerly Twitter) to share with the community that the Midnight (NIGHT) token had secured more trading volume than solana and XRP combined.
Responding to this post, the Cardano founder pointed out that Midnight (NIGHT) was a native token of the blockchain and has managed more trading volume than both XRP and Solana combined. This is backed by data from CoinMarketCap, which shows Midnight (NIGHT) with a daily trading volume of over $6 billion, compared to $2.4 billion for XRP and $2.078 billion for Solana in the same time period.
However, Cardan itself continues to struggle, with $405 million in daily trading volume for the same time period. XRP and Solana are the 5th and 7th-largest cryptocurrencies in the market, with Cardano at 10th place, and Midnight (NIGHT) at 46th position.
