Author：Encryption Tracker
Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has outlined several steps to decentralization for the Midnight network and how it is already ahead in certain parameters.
Hoskinson shared these insights in a recent interview alongside key ecosystem stakeholders, like Midnight president Fahmi Syed. During the podcast, he discussed the Midnight mainnet launch and plans for decentralization, among others.
Key Points
- Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson says Midnight decentralization started from day one.
- He highlighted several criteria that Midnight would need to meet to achieve full independence, one of which is developmental decentralization.
- He also talked about network decentralization, where Midnight slowly transitioned from a federated node operation system to stake pool operators (SPOs).
- The Cardano founder highlighted governance decentralization as the final piece to full decentralization.
- To measure the progressive decentralization roadmap of Midnight, Hoskinson noted they would use the Edinburgh Decentralization Index (EDI).
Midnight Strong Start to Decentralization: Cardano Founder
When asked about plans to decentralize Midnight, Hoskinson highlighted the roadmap to achieving this goal. Meanwhile, he noted that the Cardano sidechain already has an advantage in that regard, unlike Cardano, which took 10 years to fully decentralize.
The Cardano founder, who claims he is one of the few people to fully decentralize a network, cited Midnight’s “asset decentralization” as the major advantage. For the uninitiated, Midnight airdropped its NIGHT token to eligible users on seven different blockchains during the Glacier Drop earlier in the year.
The ADA ecosystem claimed half of the total 24 billion NIGHT supply, while Bitcoin, XRP, BNB, and Solana holders shared the remaining half. Hoskinson noted that this asset distribution has already created decentralization.
He called NIGHT one of the “most distributed cryptocurrencies of all time” following this broader allocation to several blockchains. Citing this, he claimed that Midnight had begun its journey toward full decentralization from the first day.
Different Parts of Midnight Decentralization
Meanwhile, he noted that this was just one path of decentralization. He highlighted several criteria that Midnight would need to meet to achieve full independence, similar to Cardano.
One of them is development decentralization. Hoskinson highlighted that Midnight is “ahead of schedule” in this, with over 12 companies building on the network. The Midnight team is also working with several member-based organizations, all to foster decentralization in network development.
He also talked about network decentralization, where Midnight slowly transitioned from a federated node operation system to stake pool operators (SPOs). Here, since Cardano SPOs can perform the same task for Midnight, the founder believes it would be an easier move as well. The team will also take lessons from the Cardano Shelly Era during this transitional period, further smoothing the process.
Finally, the Cardano founder highlighted governance decentralization as the final piece. Hoskinson noted that users can do more on Midnight under a decentralized governance system, enabled by next-generation on-chain voting capabilities. Here, there is anonymous voting, ZK quadratic voting, and so on.
Progress Assessment
To measure the progressive decentralization roadmap of Midnight, Hoskinson said they would use the Edinburgh Decentralization Index (EDI). This tool would assess whether the implementations of Midnight make the network more decentralized or not.
Notably, Hoskinson’s comments come days after Midnight launched on mainnet. The long-awaited debut gave broader access to the privacy-focused, fourth-generation blockchain, leveraging zero-knowledge proof to offer data protection and selective disclosure.
Interestingly, Hoskinson had earlier predicted that Midnight would have a massive impact on the Cardano network.
