TL;DR:
- Schwartz posted “I hereby acknowledge midnight” on Dec. 29, 2025, nodding to Cardano’s Midnight two weeks after launch.
- Midnight is described as a chain using zero-knowledge, a public-private dual-state ledger, and a dual-token design to limit metadata leakage and allow disclosure.
- Novogratz warned XRP and ADA could lose relevance in 1 to 3 years without real utility, as markets shift toward “business tokens” over narratives.
Ripple’s XRP conversation picked up an unexpected catalyst when Ripple CTO David Schwartz offered a minimalist nod to Cardano’s privacy chain, Midnight. Two weeks after its launch, he posted, “I hereby acknowledge midnight,” a line that reads like dry humor but lands as a public validation. A single acknowledgement can still move the narrative pipeline when communities are searching for signals. The remark arrived as Midnight is being pitched as a serious next generation privacy stack, and as utility debates around XRP and ADA intensify. Optics can become strategy.
https://twitter.com/JoelKatz/status/2005487528795881564
Midnight’s privacy pitch meets XRP’s utility debate
The backstory started with Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson framing Midnight as a privacy-first network built on zero-knowledge proofs, and citing the XRP Ledger as an example of a chain operating at real scale instead of remaining a concept. Midnight’s stated goal is not to hide everything, but to separate what must be public from what should stay protected. That design brief targets compliance-friendly privacy rather than pure obfuscation. Schwartz did not debate features or economics; he simply acknowledged its existence, which is often enough to put a product on institutional radar.
Technically, the protocol is described as a public-private dual-state ledger that protects user and transaction data while supporting situations where disclosure is required. It also uses a dual-component token design meant to reduce metadata leakage, since the surrounding data can reveal everything even when the payload is hidden. Midnight is positioning privacy as an enterprise feature, not a retail thrill. It aims to protect data without sacrificing auditability. That framing echoes themes long associated with XRP: utility, compliance, and systems usable by real businesses without turning every action into a public dossier.
The utility question is why this tiny exchange matters. Mike Novogratz has recently warned that XRP and Cardano could lose relevance within 1 to 3 years if they cannot keep proving real-world usefulness and measurable value. He argues the market is rotating toward “business tokens” with quantifiable value and profitability, and away from narrative tokens. In that framework, product credibility is an operational KPI, not marketing. Schwartz’s comment does not endorse Midnight, but it confirms it is on the competitive map, and in a sentiment-driven sector, acknowledgements can be leverage for teams.
