Hi, this is Charles Hoskinson broadcasting live from warm, sunny Fukuoka, Japan, on the Japan tour. We're about three cities in. We were in Hokkaido, and it was a lot of work to get there and to get out because the storms were terrible—2 meters of snow. Then we went to Osaka, and it was great to see a lot of old friends, some people from the early days of Cardano. We just got into Fukuoka today.
While we're on the road, we're still working hard. The Pentad was in deep negotiations, and I'm very pleased to announce, as I mentioned on Twitter, that USDCX is coming to Cardano. Circle's a tough negotiator, and they really care about their business. They're consummate professionals and did a great job representing their interests, while the people at the Pentad effectively represented ours. What we've been able to do is secure what Circle does for non-EV chains. USDCX is essentially the same asset, and how it works is there's a one-to-one reserve. For the non-EV chains like Stacks, Aleo, and others, a mirroring effect occurs. DApp developers can build a lot of functionality under the hood, and it's easy through their network to access the same liquidity as USDC.
This is what we need. People have been asking for a long time for a tier-one stablecoin on Cardano. This is how you do it, and now we're here. We have access to Circle's network, protocol, technology, and the great liquidity of the Circle network as a whole, along with the added privacy benefits of USDCX and all the technologies therein. They've really thought about their ecosystem and have done a lot of hard work to build it out, going above and beyond where they started as just a simple asset in the Ethereum world. Now they're one of the dominant stablecoin providers. There are two of them, and we're proud to finally bring that entire ecosystem into the Cardano ecosystem.
We're not done. There's a lot more to announce with the Pentad. We're in deep negotiations with some bridges and other stablecoins as well, in the same character and nature. We have to ensure that USDCX is integrated into all of the Cardano applications for a seamless user experience, including exchanges, so you can go from USDC and back without any additional steps or work—just a little more integration on our side, but not too much. This is not something that's six months out; the ink is on paper, the deal is signed, and I think the integration should be in short order. One of the advantages of this new USDCX is its fast integration time. It doesn't require a ton of custom work to get it working with Cardano because they've already done these types of things with Aleo and Stacks.
We are very excited to see that come in. It's a hard day; there's a lot going on. The markets are not very good, and people are getting pretty grouchy, but our best days are ahead of us. The fundamentals are sound, the ecosystem is sound, and the community is here. We're building and honoring the commitments and promises we've made. You voted for the Pentad to get critical integrations, and those integrations are not only coming; they're getting ink on paper and being integrated into the network.
I know there are certain people who are skeptical. I saw a video the other day from Sin City Crypto saying, "Well, maybe Pith will come, maybe not. Who knows? We'll wait and see." I don't know how else to convey that we are signing the deal, doing the integration work, and even doing an interview with the CEO of Pith about the integration coming. I understand that skepticism comes from market sentiment. At the end of the day, there's nothing I can do about it. I can't control the markets, government shutdowns, what Trump tweets, or what happens globally, whether there's peace or not. We have good days and bad days, and if you take the good days, you have to also take the bad days. That's just the reality of the cryptocurrency space as a whole.
All we have agency over is what we build, who we partner with, and our overall strategy. As an ecosystem, we're on schedule. Hydra continues to grow and flourish. The DApp and DeFi ecosystem of Cardano is strong, and there are many things we can do to make it stronger. The CCI is well underway, the Pentad is holding strong, and tough negotiations are ongoing. Midnight continues to grow. We have a lot of amazing things we've been discussing here on the Japan tour, with great announcements coming in February. We'll keep chipping away at it month by month. The markets will improve eventually, and the ecosystem will improve eventually.
What you choose to do with that information is your prerogative. What I choose to do is remain hopeful and optimistic, realizing that in these valleys, we still get great mountain views, and we will reach the summit again. None of that diminishes that this is a good day. Circle is coming to Cardano. You've asked for it for a long time, and this is how it gets done.
Thank you to everyone at the Pentad who negotiated, and thank you to the people at Circle for all their help and collaboration. There's a lot more to do and say, but I'll leave it to the other members of the Pentad to fill in those details. I wanted to be one of the first to let you know as soon as we had ink on paper and a deal. From time to time, I do occasionally come back to Twitter to make the big announcements and share that with you. Here in Fukuoka, we're going to have a great time talking to the Cardano community, as we will in Okinawa and Tokyo as well. Of course, in Hong Kong, major initiatives are still on schedule. Everyone's still working hard. We are committed for the long haul.
So, we're going to keep chipping away at it and getting it done. Hang in there, even on the bad days. Cheers, everyone.
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