Midnight Whiteboard with Charles Hoskinson

In his latest whiteboard session, Input Output CEO Charles Hoskinson shines a light on Midnight - the fourth generation of cryptocurrency, designed to solve the three remaining milestones for blockchain development: rational privacy, identity, and cooperation.

Midnight represents the missing piece for global adoption - a new chapter in blockchain evolution. Built on years of peer-reviewed research and evidence-based engineering, the same scientific foundations that underpin Cardano, Midnight delivers connectivity to bring millions of users and enterprises into the decentralized world.

This isn’t just about privacy - it’s about selective disclosure, a model that enables algorithmic regulation and agentic commerce while keeping users in control. Midnight is built to balance transparency and protection, enabling real-world collaboration without compromising digital sovereignty.

Where first-generation blockchains introduced digital value, and second and third generations expanded scalability and governance, Midnight unites privacy, compliance, and usability in a single, secure framework. It’s the culmination of years of cryptographic advancement and the hard-won lessons of building large-scale decentralized systems.

Watch as Charles explains how Midnight represents the culmination of four generations of blockchain innovation - the next step toward a global network of connected ecosystems shaping the future of Web3.

Have questions about Midnight? We want to hear them! Ask them in the comments below. Interested in being part of this movement? Reach out here: https://t.co/dRUbtrwno0.

00:00 Introduction
00:14 The First Generation: Bitcoin & Decentralized Value Transfer
02:14 The Second Generation: Ethereum & Smart Contracts
04:44 The Third Generation: Cardano & the Three Properties (Scalability, Interoperability, Governance)
07:59 The Fourth Generation: Midnight
08:05 Pillar 1: Rational Privacy
09:58 Public vs. Private in Blockchains
13:50 The Kachina & Nightstream Technologies
17:16 Hardware Acceleration & Tensor Codes
22:31 Pillar 2: Identity (Decentralized Identifiers - DIDs)
28:07 Automating Regulation: The Uniswap Example
33:10 The Future of AI Agents & Agentic Commerce
40:04 Pillar 3: Cooperation (Adoption)
40:54 The Wrong Way: Ponzinomics
42:47 The Glacier Drop: A Fair Distribution
45:49 Dual Tokenomics: Knight (Deflationary) & Dust (Predictable)
50:03 Network Effect: Hybrid Applications & The Capacity Exchange
52:20 Trustless Observation via Folding
54:55 Cooperative Consensus: Minotaur
57:46 The Capstone: Intention (Declarative vs. Procedural)
01:04:04 Midnight as the Universal Intention Layer
01:06:01 The Vision: A Future with Liberty & Economic Agency
01:09:18 From TradFi & DeFi to "Fi" (Fair Finance)
01:09:56 Conclusion

Looking for more content from Charles Hoskinson? Check out these videos:
Cardano Whiteboard Session:    • IOHK | Cardano whiteboard; overview with C...  
After Voltaire: the next evolution of Cardano:    • After Voltaire: the next evolution of Cardano  
The Fourth Generation of Cryptocurrencies:    • The Fourth Generation of Cryptocurrencies  

About Input Output:
Input Output is a world-leading blockchain infrastructure and research engineering firm dedicated to building a sustainable Web3 ecosystem. IO is committed to advancing the next generation of blockchain innovation, focusing on scalability, security, and real-world adoption through pioneering research and cutting-edge engineering.

Connect with IO:
Subscribe now to our YouTube channel:    / iohkio  
Visit the IO website: https://iohk.io/en/
Follow IO on X:   / inputoutputhk  

About Midnight:
Midnight is a fourth-generation blockchain - empowering organizations to deliver regulation-friendly, data-protecting applications that keep users in control of their own information. Harnessing the power of zero-knowledge cryptography, Midnight provides a platform for creating new business models that offer a radically different approach to handling data.

Connect with Midnight:
Subscribe to the Midnight YouTube channel:    / @midnight.network  
Visit the Midnight website: https://midnight.network/
Follow Midnight on X: https://x.com/MidnightNtwrk

Disclaimer: Nothing on this video is intended to be professional advice, including without limitation, financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. Also, publication of this video should not be construed as a solicitation, recommendation, or endorsement by Input Output Global, Inc. or its affiliates or subsidiaries (collectively, IOG). IOG is not responsible for your use of or reliance on any information in this video. It is up to you to do your own research.