Hoskinson Predicts Midnight Will Outshine Zcash Amid Market Uncertainty

Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano, recently stated that Midnight will be bigger than Zcash. This claim has sparked debate between his new privacy-focused network and Zcash, currently the leading privacy coin in the cryptocurrency space.

Zcash's market capitalization is approximately $24 billion, while Midnight's NIGHT token has a market cap of around $443 million. To catch up to Zcash, NIGHT would need to increase nearly 59 times in value.

Cardano itself is trading about 92% below its all-time high, with a market capitalization of $9.3 billion at a price of $0.25. In contrast, Zcash has surged about 75% over the past month, while Cardano has gained a more modest 26%. This makes Zcash one of the standout performers in 2026.

Zcash's enhanced privacy features have enabled it to gain an edge over rivals like Monero in the privacy coin race this year. However, its shielded pools can create vulnerabilities, as seen after hackers stole $387.5 million from Bitget and transferred funds into Zcash's shielded pools.