Cardano founder says big banks are copying XRP 100x beyond their ambitions

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  Hoskinson claims that banks are copying XRP, Midnight, but lack the ambition and openness of public blockchains.
  
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  He argues that legacy finance systems are far below the 100x scale achieved by XRP or Web3 networks.
  
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  Hoskinson is convinced that Midnight and XRP are going to reshape regulated financial institutions as they struggle to catch up.
  

Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, has criticised traditional banks for trying to copy existing blockchain technologies. On X he said that projects like XRP, Cardano’s Midnight Sidechain and XRP are far ahead of legacy finance efforts.

Copying XRP with Less Ambition

Hoskinson’s response was in response to initiatives like the Canton Network which tokenizes U.S. Treasury Securities. He argued that the efforts were limited and simply replicated what public blockchain projects do already — but with less ambitious. In his own words:

“I love when I see legacy financial come together with Canton to try and build what XRP or Midnight are already doing on a scale 100x greater than their ambitions.”

He meant that banks were building permissioned blockchains that mimicked XRP and Midnight but lacked the openness, flexibility, and decentralization of public blockchains. Hoskinson said it was ironic that traditional institutions are promoting blockchain, but they don’t understand the Web3 principles.

According to him legacy finance is still not fully understanding why public blockchains are so far ahead. He said XRP, Midnight and other public blockchains already operate on a scale that is “100x” beyond what permissioned systems such as Canton can achieve.

Canton Network’s Push into Tokenized Treasuries

DTCC teamed with Digital Asset and Canton Network earlier this month to create tokenized versions U.S. Treasury Securities held by DTC. This follows a SEC no action letter, with a beta version expected to be released in the first half 2026.

The project aims at giving institutions regulated, interoperable, and private access to these digital treasuries. DTCC and Euroclear will help to govern the network.

Canton has also seen activity in stablecoins, including World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin. Stablecoins can be used for international settlements, lending, and as collateral.

These steps show growing interest from institutions. Hoskinson, however, believes that they are only limited copies of the things public blockchains such as XRP already can accomplish on a much larger scale.

Hoskinson: Why XRP is Important

Hoskinson cites XRP as well as Midnight, two examples of networks that are already solving problems traditional finance is only just beginning to tackle. XRP focuses primarily on cross-border payment and liquidity efficiency. Hoskinson believes that Web3-native network can achieve greater technical and economic goals compared to institution-led blockchains.

Midnight as a Game-Changer for 2026

Hoskinson revealed that he produces up to 100 pages per day of technical documentation for Midnight in advance of the January workshops.

He calls it “Manhattan Project”, referring to privacy, chain abstraction and smart compliance. He suggests that it could reshape the way regulated and decentralized system coexist. He also says that the market might not be ready for its impact by 2026.

Growing Ties with XRP

Hoskinson’s relationship with XRP has improved, particularly after including XRP owners in the Midnight Airdrop. The XRP Ledger, one of eight selected networks for the NIGHT token allocation, was allocated over a billion tokens.

He has now described the XRP as friendly, and hinted at future collaborative efforts. In 2026, a DeFi layer could be added to XRP in order to increase yields and on-chain utility.

As 2026 approaches it may be increasingly difficult for markets and institutions to ignore XRP’s important role in global Blockchain infrastructure.

Related:How Cardano’s success is directly tied to the new privacy-focused ‘Midnight Protocol’

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