Charles Hoskinson Reveals Plans for a Major Airdrop Called the Glacier Drop

Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, revealed plans for a major airdrop called the Glacier Drop during his appearance at Consensus 2025.

Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano, made an interesting appearance at Consensus 2025, where he revealed plans for a major airdrop from Cardano’s privacy-focused sidechain, Midnight.

The airdrop, named Glacier Drop, will see tokens distributed to approximately 37 million wallets across eight different blockchains. These include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, XRP, Solana, Binance Smart Chain, Avalanche, and Polygon.

Users on these networks can expect to receive either NIGHT (governance token) or DUST (privacy token) as part of the distribution.

In a move that breaks from industry norms, venture capital firms will be completely excluded from the airdrop. This decision reflects Hoskinson’s stated goal of prioritizing everyday crypto users over institutional investors.

“Instead of doing an ICO or venture capitalizing, I will spend my own money, build it, release, finish, and do an airdrop to these eight different chains,” Hoskinson stated at the event.

This approach, funded by Hoskinson himself, marks a departure from typical startup models and aims to give back to the broader crypto community rather than focusing on early investors.

Cross-Chain Functionality

Midnight introduces an economic model designed to enhance cross-chain functionality and reduce rivalries between blockchain communities. The system allows developers to pay network fees using their native tokens, eliminating the need for token conversion.

For example, Ethereum developers can pay fees in ETH, while Solana developers can use SOL. Bitcoin users can use BTC for transactions on the network.

“If you are an Ether user or developer, you spent Ether for that transaction, and the same with Solana with SOL, Bitcoin, so forth,” explained Hoskinson, highlighting the aim of lowering barriers between different blockchain ecosystems.

This flexibility also extends to validators, who can contribute to the Midnight network and earn rewards in their own tokens.

The inclusion of any chain’s validators further supports Hoskinson’s stated goal of reducing tribalism in the crypto space and encouraging cooperation between different blockchain communities.

“This is the project I’m having the most fun with,” he said. “It’s where I get to be friends with everybody.”

Market Implications

While the Midnight project focuses on technology and community building, analysts have noted potential price implications for Cardano’s native ADA token.

The Crypto Capital Venture (CCV) risk model currently shows a score of 42 for Cardano. This score was last observed before Cardano’s bull runs in late 2017 and 2020.

Some analysts suggest this could indicate another price increase for ADA, potentially targeting the $2 mark. ADA currently trades at approximately $0.78.

The token has already recovered substantially from its bottom of $0.23 in late 2023, showing a 233% increase. However, it remains 74% below its all-time high of approximately $3.10.

The 0.50 Fibonacci level sits at $1.67, with the 0.62 level at around $2.01.

Project Timeline

Midnight is currently in testnet phase, with the mainnet expected to launch before the end of 2025. The Glacier Drop airdrop will likely occur in conjunction with this mainnet release, though specific dates have not been announced.

Hoskinson described Midnight as a principled approach to blockchain development, focusing on privacy features while maintaining cross-chain compatibility. The exclusion of venture capitalists from token distribution underscores his commitment to community-oriented development.

The dual-token system of NIGHT and DUST serves different purposes within the Midnight ecosystem. NIGHT tokens provide governance rights, allowing holders to vote on network upgrades and changes. DUST tokens focus on privacy-related functions within the network.

The Glacier Drop airdrop represents one of the largest cross-chain token distributions. With 37 million wallets targeted across eight blockchains, the scale of the operation highlights Cardano’s ambition to create connections across the fragmented blockchain landscape.

Hoskinson turned down venture capital interest in the project, stating that he wanted to avoid the hype and quick-money mindset often associated with VC funding. For the Cardano founder, this approach aligns with his vision of building sustainable blockchain infrastructure.

The Midnight project aims to bring privacy features to the Cardano ecosystem while maintaining interoperability with other blockchain networks. This approach could potentially expand Cardano’s developer base and increase network activity once fully deployed.