Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano, announced during a surprise live AMA broadcast from Wyoming that the project will begin migrating its primary community interactions from X (formerly Twitter) to Discord. In the same session, he provided updates on Midnight, RealFi, governance matters, agent-oriented products, and touched on a marketing initiative previously discussed with SpaceX. Cardano is known as a blockchain network providing infrastructure for smart contracts and decentralized applications.
A managed alternative to X for community engagement
Hoskinson explained that discussions on X have become unproductive due to repetitive accusations, abrasive exchanges, and low-quality debates. For this reason, he sees the transition to a more tightly moderated Discord environment as the logical next step for hosting the bulk of Cardano’s community dialogue.
Rather than focusing efforts on public debates, Charles Hoskinson outlined the intention to shift Cardano’s main community communication into a better-managed Discord structure.
He highlighted the growth of the Midnight Discord server as an example of this approach’s success, noting that membership there has increased from about 11,000 to 49,000 over the last six months. This jump suggests a well-organized space can better facilitate product updates, Q&A, and community interaction.
Glossary: AMA stands for “Ask Me Anything,” live sessions where the community can pose direct questions. Discord is a communication platform that allows communities to organize in channels, offering powerful moderation tools.
Hoskinson stated that once he is back in Colorado, a working group will be formed to involve both community members and ecosystem participants in designing the new Discord structure. He also said that the initial planning phase included consultations with some figures linked to Hosky.
Product focus on Midnight, RealFi, and Leo
Hoskinson emphasized that activity on X would not end immediately. Nevertheless, he anticipates that official community interaction will shift gradually to Discord. While live streams may continue on X, deeper community engagement through AMA sessions is expected to move over time. He added that the first half of the year has been more challenging than anticipated for Cardano.
He also shared a range of product updates. Progress has been made on the RealFi front, with John O’Connor taking a key role at the RealFi Foundation. Hogan, described as a Bitcoin-based DeFi initiative, is nearing public launch. Additionally, within the Midnight ecosystem, users will soon be able to create digital agents with diverse attributes in Midnight City’s agent-based environment.
The target date for the Leo testnet was set for June 23. Hoskinson expects substantial testing activity to accompany the rollout. Dust, defined as a utility token within Midnight, will be used to execute applications as community use cases start appearing on the network. The development team is prioritizing stability, bug fixes, and feature delivery before expanding access.
SpaceX campaign shelved, governance debates continue
Hoskinson addressed a previously considered marketing concept involving SpaceX, which envisioned a special mission where community members could apply for astronaut roles, aiming to promote the Cardano and Midnight brands through a space-themed campaign. The plan also included training with SpaceX and a partnership with Vast, a space station company founded by Jed McCaleb. However, the costs could not be brought to a feasible level, so the plan did not progress.
Hoskinson stated that the market conditions in 2024 and 2025 do not support the expected budget, and as a result, the large-scale media campaign targeting a broad audience could not be realized.
Ongoing discussions continue with the TapTools team, considering options for integrating the discontinued product with Lace, Second Fire, or Midnight City. On governance, Hoskinson suggested that Cardano may require structural changes to more efficiently approve proposals with clear commercial value. He noted that some proposals related to Midnight and Strike were rejected or stalled, but pointed out that well-designed, community-backed initiatives could return value to ADA holders.
Hoskinson also addressed previous criticisms, including allegations regarding ADA vouchers. He said that following a completed audit, he was fully cleared of any wrongdoing: 99.7% of purchasers received their entitlements, and refunds are planned for the remaining 0.3%.
