XRP News Today: Cardano's Midnight Airdrop Targets 37 Million Users Across Eight Networks

Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, has announced a significant token distribution event called the Glacier Drop. This initiative is part of the broader launch strategy for Midnight, a new privacy-centric sidechain being developed by the Cardano ecosystem. The airdrop will target over 37 million user addresses across eight blockchain networks, including the XRP Ledger, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Cardano. This large-scale distribution will introduce two native Midnight tokens: NIGHT, a governance asset, and DUST, intended to enable private transactions.

Hoskinson presented the details of the Glacier Drop during the Consensus 2025 conference held in Toronto, highlighting the move as a major step toward reducing division within the cryptocurrency industry. He emphasized that Midnight’s airdrop will not include any allocations for venture capital firms or early investors. The tokens will be distributed exclusively to retail users on participating networks, which he described as a deliberate strategy to promote fairness and transparency. According to Hoskinson, avoiding institutional pre-sales is a way to challenge the common practice of favoring select insiders, which he referred to as “VC Ponzi” models. The airdropped tokens will be immediately available to recipients, who may choose to hold, sell, or discard them without restrictions.

The Glacier Drop will span eight networks: Cardano, Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, Bitcoin, BNB Chain, XRP Ledger, and the Basic Attention Token ecosystem. By involving such a wide range of platforms, Hoskinson aims to foster greater cooperation across crypto communities that have historically operated in silos. He noted that the constant competition between blockchain projects undermines the industry’s long-term growth. Hoskinson is not the only figure in the digital asset space calling for greater collaboration. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and pro-crypto attorney John Deaton have also voiced similar sentiments in recent public appearances. Garlinghouse, for instance, has proposed a multi-asset U.S. crypto reserve that does not rely solely on Bitcoin. He argued that this would better reflect the diversity and potential of the broader crypto landscape. Deaton, a longtime XRP supporter, has also advocated for ending infighting within the industry in favor of united advocacy on regulatory and policy matters.

Beyond the airdrop, the Midnight sidechain is being built to encourage developer engagement across the blockchain ecosystem. One of its defining features will allow developers to pay network fees in the native currency of their home blockchain, such as ETH for Ethereum or SOL for Solana, rather than requiring a new token standard. The protocol will also support cross-chain validator participation. This means that infrastructure providers from various blockchains can help secure the Midnight network and earn rewards, regardless of which platform they primarily support. Currently in testnet, the Midnight mainnet is scheduled for release by the end of 2025. As development progresses, Hoskinson expressed optimism that this project will help broaden access to privacy solutions and bridge ideological divides across the crypto industry. “This is the project I’m having the most fun with,” he said, citing the project’s potential to unite different communities and expand the reach of decentralized technologies.