On Sunday, Cardano (ADA), the native governance token of the proof-of-stake layer-1 network of the same name, lept to its highest points since April after its founder said he would play a role in shaping crypto policy in the U.S. next year.

On Sunday, Cardano (ADA), the native governance token of the proof-of-stake layer-1 network of the same name, lept to its highest point since April after its founder said he would play a role in shaping crypto policy in the U.S. next year.

ADA rose by as much as 33% on the day to $0.64 before paring back gains to stand at 0.58 by press time, CoinGecko data shows.

ADA rose as much as 33% on the day to $0.64 before paring back gain to stand at $0.58 by press time, CoinGecko data shows.

It follows Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson’s declaration he would aim to position himself as a prominent voice in President-elect Donald Trump’s ear when he takes power on January 20.

“A large part of my time in 2025 will also be devoted to the political process,” Hoskinson said Saturday in a video statement posted by Cardano-based wallet, NFT, and token tracking platform TapTools.

He continued: “I’m going to be spending quite a bit of time working with lawmakers in Washington, D.C., and quite a bit of time working with members of the [Trump] administration to help foster and facilitate, with other key leaders in [the] industry, crypto policy.”

To be clear, Hoskinson has not been tapped by Trump's inner circle to head up a position on crypto. However, the former president has promised to listen to those from within the industry to shape future regulations affecting it.

As a prominent figure in the crypto and blockchain space, Hoskinson is known primarily as a co-founder of Ethereum and the founder of Cardano, which was developed by his company, Input Output Global (IOG), formerly known as IOHK. 

He once played a role in Ethereum’s early development alongside co-founder Vitalik Buterin but left due to differing visions for the project. Hoskinson advocated for a more corporate approach with venture capital funding, while the Ethereum team wanted to push for a non-profit, decentralized model.

Cardano tailwinds

In a surprising twist late last month, Hoskinson said he would pivot Cardano’s strategy to operate as a Bitcoin Layer 2 solution. The shift would supposedly allow Cardano to leverage Bitcoin’s security and liquidity, integrating with its network to facilitate faster and more scalable transactions.

Speaking at the Staking Summit in Bangkok last week, IOG Chief Technology Officer Romain Pellerin said his company would launch a new “partner chain,” dubbed Midnight, sometime next year.

The zero-knowledge-proof native blockchain will seek to provide “advanced privacy and selective disclosure” for users and businesses with operations secured by Cardano Stake Pool Operators.

SPOs are individuals or organizations responsible for managing and operating a stake pool on the Cardano blockchain. Stake pools, meanwhile, are essential components of Cardano’s proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, which relies on stakeholders to secure the network and validate transactions.

Those SPOs would earn additional $Night tokens, with the Midnight governance to be secured on Cardano, Pellerin said.

While ADA's jump to April highs signals confidence in the token's ecosystem to shift gears, it comes amid a major uplift for digital assets across the board.

Bitcoin broke to a new-time high above $80,000 on Sunday, while seminal meme coin Doge lept to highs not seen in over three years.