Cardano's Charles Hoskinson says he's personally building a new programming language
In brief
- Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson says he is personally developing a new programming language for the blockchain.
- The language would handle intents and proof-carrying data (PCD) using Groth16 proofs, Hoskinson said.
- Hoskinson shared no name, specifications or release timeframe for the language.
- U.Today said it's unclear whether the language relates to Hoskinson's separate Midnight concept.
What Hoskinson said
Hoskinson made the remark after a community member asked about Cardano's unique benefits as a highly decentralized base for blockchain use cases, U.Today reported. His reply was short.
"I'm actually personally developing a programming language for Cardano. It's the first of its kind enabling intents + PCD via Groth16 proofs,"
The "first of its kind" description is Hoskinson's own, and it hasn't come with technical details. There's no name for the language yet. Hoskinson hasn't published specs either, and he didn't give a timeframe for its release.
That's the whole announcement, for now.
A separate Midnight teaser
Earlier the same week, Hoskinson hinted at an ambitious use case for Midnight, a privacy-focused partner blockchain for Cardano. He said he was working on a Midnight concept that he described as the magnum opus of his career. U.Today said it's unclear whether the two announcements are related, so they're best read as separate items until Hoskinson says otherwise.
Hoskinson's history with Haskell
Some background helps here (none of it is new). Hoskinson is a fan of Haskell, which was originally used as the basis of Cardano's development architecture. In June 2022, he joined a discussion between Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey on programming languages and suggested they try Haskell after Musk said he preferred C over C++.
He's also been candid about the choice. In May 2024, Hoskinson said he'd nearly picked Clojure, and that Haskell was chosen because of Cloud Haskell. Then, in an April 2025 interview, he said he'd probably pick another language if he could rewrite Cardano from scratch.
Cardano currently supports smart contract languages including Plutus (which is based on Haskell) and Aiken, while Midnight uses a privacy-focused language called Compact.
Frequently asked questions
What did Charles Hoskinson say about a new Cardano programming language?
Hoskinson said he is personally developing a new programming language for Cardano. He described it as the first of its kind enabling intents and proof-carrying data (PCD) via Groth16 proofs. That description is his claim, and he gave no name, specifications or release timeframe.
Is the new language connected to Hoskinson's Midnight project?
That isn't known. Earlier the same week, Hoskinson hinted at a Midnight concept he called the magnum opus of his career. U.Today said it is unclear whether the two announcements are related.
Which smart contract languages does Cardano support today?
Cardano supports smart contract languages including Plutus, which is based on Haskell, and Aiken. Midnight, a privacy-focused partner blockchain for Cardano, uses a privacy-focused language called Compact.
