TL;DR
Charles Hoskinson is working with Lucas Rosa, an Input Output Global engineer, on a new programming language for Cardano.
The project will combine transaction intents, proof-carrying data, and the Groth16 proof system to verify operations and conditions without exposing private information.
Hoskinson has not yet announced the language’s name, its full technical specifications, or a release date.
Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano , is personally developing a new programming language for the blockchain alongside Lucas Rosa, a software engineer at Input Output Global (IOG) and one of the creators of Aiken.
Hoskinson confirmed the project in a post on X. He explained that the goal is to combine the instructions a user wants to execute with cryptographic proofs that verify whether the specified conditions have been met .
The proposal aims to allow applications to execute complex operations without requiring users to define every step involved. It would also make it possible to verify results through cryptographic proofs rather than repeating all the underlying calculations.
I’m actually personally developing a programming language for Cardano. It’s the first of its kind, enabling intents and PCD via Groth16 proofs. @rvcas is building it with me
— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) October 18, 2026
The Cardano founder said the language will integrate three components: transaction intents, proof-carrying data, and Groth16 .
How Hoskinson’s New Programming Language Will Work
Transaction intents allow users to specify their desired outcome without defining exactly how an operation should be executed.
For example, someone could request a swap from one token to another, provided the final price meets certain conditions. The application would then determine how to execute the swap within those limits.
The second component, known as proof-carrying data , involves attaching cryptographic evidence to information to demonstrate that it complies with specific rules.
This would allow another application to verify the validity of the information received without repeating all the calculations used to generate it.
The third component is Groth16 , a cryptographic proof system that generates compact proofs that can be verified quickly.
These proofs can demonstrate that a condition has been met without revealing the private data used in the process .
Combining these tools could allow developers to build applications capable of coordinating swaps, checking complex conditions, and sharing verified information across different services.
Cardano could validate a compact cryptographic proof at the end of an operation instead of having to reproduce every procedure performed by the applications.
Cardano Already Uses Plutus and Aiken for Smart Contracts
The new project would join a development environment that already offers several programming languages for creating smart contracts .
One of them is Plutus , which is based on Haskell and used to develop applications that execute operations directly on Cardano.
Another is Aiken , a language specifically designed to simplify smart contract development on the network. Lucas Rosa, who is working with Hoskinson on the new proposal, helped create it.
Meanwhile, Midnight , the privacy-focused blockchain developed by Input Output Global, has its own language, Compact , designed for applications that need to process confidential information.
Unlike these existing tools, the language announced by Hoskinson aims to bring transaction instructions and their cryptographic verification together within a single system.
For now, Hoskinson has not revealed the project’s name, published any code, or released full technical specifications . He has also not indicated when the language will become available to Cardano developers.
