Charles Hoskinson Bets Cardano Will Rival XRP Ledger’s Speed After the Leios Upgrade

Charles Hoskinson expects the Ouroboros Leios upgrade to multiply Cardano’s capacity by 60 times, a leap that would put the network on par with the XRP Ledger in terms of speed.

The founder also defended Midnight City against critics and outlined the upgrade’s next steps.

Leios: Cardano’s Bet to Catch the XRP Ledger

Ouroboros Leios is an upgrade to Cardano’s protocol designed to multiply transaction capacity without sacrificing decentralization or security. Charles Hoskinson explained its scope during an interview with David Gokhshtein on “The Breakdown podcast”.

According to the founder, the technology will increase the network’s internal throughput by up to 60x. That jump, he said, would leave Cardano with performance comparable to the XRP Ledger, a network known for its efficiency.

“Leios will be a 60x in terms of throughput inside the system, so we’re good, we’re as performant as XRP, and we still kept our principles,” Hoskinson said.

Follow us on X to get the latest news as it happens.

The Breakdown #739: Crypto Is Back and Moving Again https://t.co/KrGUe9wm0m

— David Gokhshtein (@davidgokhshtein) July 2, 2026

The comparison carries weight. The XRPL built its reputation on settlements between three and five seconds and a maximum capacity of 1,500 transactions per second. In March 2026, that network surpassed 120 TPS during a peak with roughly 650 operations.

Hoskinson stressed that these improvements do not mean giving up the project’s founding principles. The industry knows this dilemma as the blockchain trilemma, where scaling often demands trade-offs between decentralization and security. Cardano wants to prove that exchange is not inevitable.

The path is already underway. The public Leios testnet, named Musashi Dojo, debuted on June 23, 2026. It marks the protocol’s first operation in a live network environment. Mainnet deployment is expected before the end of this year.

Hoskinson Defends Midnight City After Big Pey’s Criticism

Hoskinson also responded firmly to questions about Midnight City. Content creator Big Pey labeled the initiative an example of wasteful spending within the ecosystem.

According to the critic, the team invested millions of dollars in a project that was unable to attract new users. He described that strategy as the “Cardano Way,” referring to investments that yield no immediate commercial returns.

The reply came at once. Hoskinson said he had lost all respect for Big Pey as an entrepreneur and criticized him for failing to understand how consumer products evolve. He even challenged the critic to save the post and return in a year to apologize.

I've just lost all respect for you as an entrepreneur. You clearly have no clue how adoption or consumer experiences work. Save this tweet and come back in a year to apologize. Midnight City is one of the most important applications on Midnight and will be one of the keys to…

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) July 2, 2026

Midnight City works as an interactive showcase for Midnight Network, the privacy-focused chain tied to Cardano. The platform translates complex blockchain mechanics into a retro-futuristic 2D city inhabited by AI agents.

Those agents generate transactions and economic behavior similar to everyday use by consumers and businesses.

Institutional interest supports that vision. Midnight already added Monument Bank, Google, and AlphaTON Capital, and is holding talks with investment banks in the United States and Europe.

For Hoskinson, 2026 will be a beta year meant to strengthen the infrastructure before mainstream adoption.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch leaders and journalists provide expert insights