Cardano’s booth at TOKEN2049 did not feature its biggest and most popular project, Midnight. The privacy-focused blockchain is a major part of the Cardano ecosystem, yet it wasn’t featured anywhere in the branding.
Charles Hoskinson has publicly criticized this and called it a result of governance politics at the project.
The timing made the omission harder to ignore. Hours earlier, Midnight announced plans to support Solana wallets.
Midnight has become the where's waldo of Cardano pic.twitter.com/pvge2BB2T0 — Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) October 7, 2026
Cardano’s Biggest Project Is Missing
Hoskinson walked viewers through the Cardano display at TOKEN2049, which featured projects from across the ecosystem. Even SNEK, the Cardano meme coin, made the wall.
Midnight did not. This is odd because Midnight is Cardano’s largest project and NIGHT already trades on Binance as a Cardano native token.
He also suggested the Cardano Foundation helped decide what appeared on the booth, joking that Midnight may simply be so private that it refused to reveal itself.
The dispute quickly became more serious.
“The booth is a public asset for Cardano. It was funded by the Cardano community.”
—Charles Hoskinson
That matters because Cardano’s treasury is ultimately funded and governed through ADA holders and their delegates.
Midnight Finds a Warmer Welcome on Solana
The booth dispute also exposes a broader political divide inside Cardano.
Hoskinson has repeatedly clashed with the Cardano Foundation over governance and the direction of the ecosystem. That tension resurfaced in June when a crypto fund foundercalled for Hoskinson’s removal, triggering a fierce community debate.
Meanwhile, Midnight is widening its reach.
At a recent SolanaSummit, the team said Solana users would eventually be able to make private swaps without installing separate software.
Hoskinson publicly welcomed the move in aquote post.
Welcome to Midnight, Solana https://t.co/4ejFp6n5LL — Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) October 6, 2026
The irony is difficult to miss. A project built inside the Cardano ecosystem is now being welcomed by Solana while its own logo is missing from Cardano’s biggest conference booth.
