Charles Hoskinson says he is building a Cardano programming language

Key takeaways

  • Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson says he is personally developing a new programming language for the blockchain, promising advanced cryptography features.
  • The language is described as handling intents and proof-carrying data through Groth16 proofs, with Hoskinson calling it the first of its kind.
  • He did not share the language's name, specifications or release timeframe, and it remains unclear whether it relates to a separate concept he mentioned for Midnight, a partner blockchain focused on privacy.
  • Cardano currently supports smart contract languages such as Plutus, which is based on Haskell, and Aiken; Midnight also has Compact, a privacy-focused language.

What happened
Hoskinson said he is working on a new programming language for Cardano after a community member asked about the unique benefits of Cardano as a highly decentralized base for blockchain use cases. In his response, he said he was personally developing a programming language for Cardano and described it as the first of its kind enabling intents and proof-carrying data through Groth16 proofs.

The announcement is brief and technical. It connects three concepts: intents, proof-carrying data and Groth16, a proof system. Hoskinson presents the combination as a distinctive capability for a blockchain language, but provides no implementation details, target use cases, compatibility with existing Cardano smart contract languages or timeline.

Earlier in the same week, he also pointed to Midnight, a partner blockchain for Cardano focused on privacy, saying he was working on a concept that only Midnight could bring to the cryptocurrency space to solve most problems. He described it as the magnum opus of his career. The statement does not clarify whether the new language and the Midnight concept are the same project, separate initiatives or related through a shared cryptographic direction.

Market context
Cardano's programming history gives context to the announcement. Hoskinson has repeatedly discussed programming language choices, and the existing smart contract language Plutus is based on Haskell, the language originally used as the basis of Cardano's development architecture.

In June 2022, Hoskinson joined a discussion between Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey about the merits of programming languages. Musk said he preferred C over modern C++; Hoskinson responded by suggesting they should try Haskell. Later, however, Hoskinson admitted that the decision to develop Cardano with Haskell was not something he was sure about.

In May 2024, he said he had nearly chosen Clojure at one point. He explained that Haskell was eventually selected because Cloud Haskell existed and because other technologies such as Liquid Haskell and Agda could be used. By April 2025, he said that if he could rewrite Cardano from scratch, he would probably pick another language. That history suggests the announcement of a new language is not a simple rejection of the existing stack, but it also reflects a founder still exploring better ways to express blockchain logic and cryptography.

Why it matters
The key issue for readers is whether a new language can change how developers build on Cardano and how much of Hoskinson's vision is practical rather than conceptual. If the language does enable intents and proof-carrying data through Groth16 proofs, it could make it easier to write applications that let users express goals and then attach cryptographic proofs to data or program states. That would be notable for a blockchain described in the original inquiry as a highly decentralized base for diverse use cases.

But the value depends on details that are currently absent. A language's usefulness is determined by tooling, security guarantees, compiler design, auditability, developer adoption and integration with existing contracts. Hoskinson's own remarks about Haskell show that high-level theoretical appeal does not always translate into a comfortable or optimal development path. The fact that he later said he might choose another language if rewriting Cardano adds uncertainty to the project's maturity.

The relationship with Midnight also matters. Midnight is privacy-focused, and Compact already exists there as a privacy-oriented language. If the new Cardano language is meant to work with privacy applications, proof-carrying data and Groth16 could point toward verifiable privacy mechanisms. If it is unrelated, the announcement remains a standalone technical experiment. Without a name, specification or roadmap, readers cannot judge which direction is more likely.

What to watch
The first signal would be any specification, public implementation or technical document that explains how the language handles intents, proof-carrying data and Groth16 proofs. A release date, compatibility statement or migration path for Plutus and Aiken would show whether the language is an addition to the Cardano ecosystem or a separate experimental project.

Another signal is whether Hoskinson links the language to the Midnight concept he called his magnum opus. If the two announcements are part of the same architecture, the project may be more ambitious than a new syntax or compiler. If they remain separate, the new language should be treated as an early-stage experiment with a known founder but an unknown delivery path.

For now, the announcement adds to Cardano's long-running story about language choice and cryptographic capability, but it does not provide enough information to measure impact.