Cardano (ADA) Explores Private Stablecoins and Major Development Overhaul

Cardano is entering a new phase. Its founder, Charles Hoskinson, has laid out bold plans to reshape the blockchain's architecture and explore

Cardano, the renowned blockchain platform, is set to enter a new phase with the introduction of private stablecoins and a major overhaul of its development model, aiming to enhance user privacy, foster rapid innovation, and navigate evolving regulatory pressures.

During an interview on May 9 with eToro’s “Conversations with Leaders” podcast, Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, unveiled plans for a stablecoin that would preserve user privacy, contrasting sharply with the global push to ban privacy coins like Monero and Zcash.

“We could have a stablecoin that’s private, that people can use to spend their money, and that has the same level of anonymity as cash, which is to say no one can follow the coins or anything like that,” Hoskinson stated.

However, he acknowledged the need to satisfy anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism compliance standards. To this end, his proposal includes features for selective disclosure, allowing relevant authorities to trace coins in specific instances.

“If the FBI or the CIA or someone like that wants to follow a chain of coins to a bad guy, they can apply for a warrant, and they can get the data that they need to do their job.”

His comments come amid a broader backlash against private digital assets, with the EU set to restrict exchange access to such cryptocurrencies by 2027.

At the same time, Cardano is preparing for a deep structural shift, moving toward a more modular and collaborative development model to facilitate faster progress and broader participation.

This follows a period of focused growth for Cardano, which has prioritized a minimalist approach and formal verification of code, as highlighted in a recent interview with Ben Armstrong.

However, Hoskinson acknowledged that this early emphasis slowed growth and discouraged external innovation.

“We’re going to be doing a major overhaul of how we develop Cardano to move to an agile modular architecture, which will allow for more rapid innovation, more people to participate, and the ability to do parallel development.”

New agile teams like Aiken and Midgard will be introduced to work alongside Cardano’s core engineering unit, Input Output.

This transformation will be pivotal in delivering upgrades like Leios sooner and without any delays, a message that becomes particularly relevant considering recent developments.

After a partnership of seven years, Cardano recently severed ties with two longtime contributors, Well-Typed and PN-Sol, reportedly over timeline disagreements.

This news comes as part of a broader narrative on the role of startups and rapid innovation versus a more measured and academic approach to blockchain development.

In a subsequent post, Hoskinson clarified that the separation was mutual and amicable, with both parties agreeing to pursue different priorities.

He also provided an update on the progress of the Leios upgrade, which is expected to deliver new smart contract capabilities and performance enhancements to the Cardano network.

Despite some community resistance and internal changes, the Cardano team is actively recruiting new talent from within its ecosystem to maintain momentum.

“We’re going to be bringing in more people, and we’re going to be doing it in a way that keeps the core values of Cardano intact—the flexibility, the innovation, and the foundational rigor can coexist, and we need to evolve to stay competitive.”

This move is part of broader efforts to expand Cardano's technical capabilities and integrate with other leading blockchains, such as Bitcoin and XRP.