Cardano (ADA) founder Charles Hoskinson took the stage at Consensus Hong Kong on Thursday wearing a McDonald's uniform - a bear market meme - and announced that LayerZero, a cross-chain messaging protocol backed by Citadel Securities, will integrate with the Cardano blockchain.
The deal came alongside a confirmed late-March launch date for Midnight, Cardano's privacy-focused partner chain.
The announcements arrived as ADA trades around $0.26, down roughly 91% from its September 2021 all-time high of $3.09 and off about 34% in the past month alone.
What Hoskinson Said
"The industry is not healthy. S--- is getting real. Twitter is a nuclear dumpster fire. Sentiment is at an all-time low," Hoskinson said during his keynote.
He then drew a distinction between what he called a "micro" downturn and a macro environment he still considers bullish, citing recent regulatory progress in the U.S. as evidence.
Hoskinson argued the industry needs "a brand new paradigm, new vision, new narrative" - and pointed to the LayerZero partnership as proof that institutional infrastructure work continues regardless of price action.
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What Was Actually Announced
LayerZero connects over 150 blockchains and handles more than $80 billion in cross-chain assets. Its integration would give Cardano access to ecosystems including Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL).
Hoskinson also confirmed that USDCx, a stablecoin product, will launch on Cardano with wallet and exchange support.
Separately, Input Output Global announced that Midnight will go live in the final week of March. The privacy chain uses zero-knowledge cryptography and allows users to keep transactions private while selectively disclosing data to authorized parties. A public simulation environment, Midnight City, opens on Feb. 26.
Why It Matters - and What It Doesn't Solve
The partnerships add technical capabilities Cardano has lacked: institutional-grade cross-chain access and native privacy infrastructure. LayerZero's recent backing from Citadel Securities lends the protocol institutional credibility.
But none of this addresses ADA's immediate problem. The token has lost a third of its value this month in a broader sell-off that has pushed Bitcoin down 47% from its October high and triggered $6 billion in crypto ETF outflows since November.
Cardano's total value locked in DeFi remains a fraction of competitors like Ethereum and Solana.
Hoskinson's McDonald's stunt grabbed attention. Whether the LayerZero and Midnight launches can generate sustained demand for ADA is a separate question entirely.
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