Cardano (ADA) founder Charles Hoskinson has made strong statements about the future of his crypto project. In a recent interview he outlined a year that he believes will be decisive for the further development of the network.
Cardano’s DeFi dream is at stake
According to Hoskinson, 2026 will be a defining year for Cardano, with a sharp focus on growth within the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector.
In the podcast The Wolf of All Streets, he emphasized that the ecosystem must then show that it can convert its technological lead into actual user growth.
“There is a big difference between our market cap and our presence in DeFi,” Hoskinson said. “That must change in 2026.”
That backlog is clearly visible. According to DeFiLlama, the total value locked in Cardano protocols (TVL) is only $184 million. At the same time, Cardano has a market capitalization of over $14 billion, good for twelfth place among the largest crypto projects.
For comparison, Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) have a TVL of $72.7 billion and $9 billion, respectively. Their market capitalizations may be higher, but their DeFi activity is many times greater.
Slow start, but Cardano is gaining steam
Cardano’s lag is mainly due to the slow development of the network. This delay is partly deliberate: Cardano opts for a scientific approach in which thoroughness is more important than speed. This led to a late adoption of smart contracts, a lack of bridges with other blockchains and the absence of dominant stablecoins.
Yet there is hope. Cardano is working on several initiatives to turn the tide. For example, applications are being developed that enable DeFi activities based on Bitcoin (BTC) and XRP.
In addition, the launch of the long-awaited Midnight mainnet is planned. Midnight is a so-called sidechain: a separate blockchain that is connected to Cardano. This should offer more privacy and ensure better communication with other blockchains. An airdrop already took place at the end of 2025 where early users received free tokens.
On a technical level, Cardano focuses on scalability with solutions such as Hydra and the new consensus protocol Ouroboros Leios. According to Hoskinson, these upgrades can increase transaction speed by up to sixty times.
Furthermore, 1.5 million ADA has been made available in 2026 to support new DeFi projects. The network is also working on integrations with the oracle service Pyth, bridges to other blockchains and attracting large stablecoins such as USDT and USDC.
Cardano started the year strongly. At the turn of the year, the ADA rate was $0.33, but within a few days it peaked to almost $0.44. That amounts to an increase of about 33 percent in less than a week.
Since then, a slight correction has started, just like in the broader crypto market. The price is currently fluctuating around $0.38. However, compared to the all-time high of $3.09, Cardano is still more than 87 percent lower.
Source: https://newsbit.nl/hoskinson-2026-wordt-een-alles-of-niets-jaar-voor-cardano-defi/
