Charles Hoskinson announces LayerZero will be ported to Cardano at Consensus Hong Kong Input Output CEO and Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson used his Consensus Hong Kong keynote to confirm a major integration: LayerZero will be brought to the Cardano blockchain. Hoskinson framed the move as a vote of confidence in Cardano’s institutional ambitions, saying the project will "bring USDCx to Cardano" with a launch date already set and broad wallet and exchange support lined up. LayerZero — presented at the event as a blockchain targeting institutional-grade markets — received a high-profile strategic investment from Citadel Securities on Wednesday, underscoring growing institutional interest in cross-chain and privacy-enabled infrastructure. The LayerZero announcement came the same day as another Cardano milestone: the rollout of Midnight’s mainnet, also revealed Thursday morning. Hoskinson delivered his message with a dose of theatricality — arriving onstage in a McDonald’s uniform as a tongue-in-cheek nod to recent market turbulence — and didn’t mince words about current sentiment. “The industry is not healthy. Things are getting real. Twitter is a nuclear dumpster fire. Sentiment is at an all time low,” he said, while arguing the downturn is a cyclical, micro correction within an otherwise bullish macro outlook. He framed the LayerZero partnership as evidence of that longer-term optimism: the integration will enable stablecoins on Cardano with “true privacy and immutability,” leveraging zero-knowledge technology, and aims to meet institutional requirements for security and compliance. Combined with Midnight’s mainnet launch, Hoskinson positioned Thursday’s developments as a turning point for Cardano’s utility and enterprise readiness. UPDATE (Feb. 12, 2026, 02:21 UTC): Additional comments and details from Charles Hoskinson have been added. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

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