Cardano Founder Charles Hoskinson Unveils the "Biggest Airdrop Ever" Targeting 37M Blockchain Addresses

Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson has unveiled what he calls the “biggest airdrop ever,” which will distribute tokens to 37 million blockchain addresses.

Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson has revealed what he calls the "biggest airdrop ever," which will distribute tokens to 37 million blockchain addresses.

The airdrop, named Glacier Drop, is designed to mark the launch of Midnight, Cardano's upcoming privacy-focused sidechain. Two distinct native tokens will be distributed through this event: NIGHT, which will serve as a governance token, and DUST, a token to be used for shielded, private transactions on the Midnight network.

This airdrop will be launched during Consensus 2025 in Toronto, where Hoskinson made the initial announcement. He will further detail the initiative at Paris Blockchain Week 2025.

What is unique about this airdrop is that it will not include any venture capitalists or early-stage insiders. Unlike traditional token launches, which frequently allocate a large portion of tokens to institutional investors, this time, the tokens will go directly to retail users.

"This is a stand against the VC Ponzi dynamics," stated Hoskinson. He added that recipients will have the complete freedom to hold, sell, or discard the tokens as they see fit.

The Glacier Drop will be executed across eight major blockchains: Cardano, Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP Ledger, Solana, Avalanche, BNB Chain, and BAT.

Accordingly, those who hold assets on these chains, including XRP holders, will be eligible for the airdrop. This move showcases the evolving relationship between the XRP and Cardano communities.

Earlier this year, Ripple featured Cardano in one of its promotional videos highlighting the strength and diversity of the crypto industry. This signals a positive shift from previous times when there was more emphasis on competition.

Midnight, which is set to launch in late 2025, will introduce a new concept called chain abstraction. This enables users to interact with the platform using their preferred asset, be it BTC, ETH, ADA, or XRP, without the need for any token conversion.

Moreover, developers building on Midnight will pay fees using their chain's native token. For instance, Ethereum developers will use ETH, Solana developers will use SOL, and so forth.

The project will also support multi-chain validator participation, allowing node operators from any of the eight supported blockchains to help secure the network and earn rewards for their contribution.

According to Hoskinson, this is a crucial step in a broader effort to end crypto tribalism and promote cooperation.

"Every year at Consensus, someone is shouting, 'My chain is better than yours', or 'My coin will go up 100x by the end of the year'," said Hoskinson.

"This year, we are changing that narrative. We are about building bridges, not walls. We are about connecting people and ideas to create something truly great."

Finally, Hoskinson highlighted that Midnight will be the fourth generation of cryptocurrency. The first generation focused on decentralization with Bitcoin, the second brought smart contracts with Ethereum, and the third generation introduced interoperability.

However, he believes that the time has come for the next stage, which will be focused on privacy. In today's world, where data is king, Midnight aims to revolutionize how we handle data in a more secure and compliant manner.