Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson is developing a new programming language that aims to link transaction requests with cryptographic proofs, potentially giving developers new ways to build blockchain applications. The project has been announced, but its name, technical details and launch schedule remain undisclosed.

Hoskinson shared the news on X on Sunday, revealing that he is personally working on the language with Lucas Rosa, a software engineer at Input Output Global. Rosa co-created Aiken, a programming language widely used for writing Cardano smart contracts.

The project marks a hands-on effort by Hoskinson to create development infrastructure for the network, even though Input Output Global already employs engineers working on Cardano-related technology.

The proposed language will focus on three components: transaction intents, proof-carrying data and Groth16 proofs.

With transaction intents, users can specify what they want a transaction to accomplish without outlining every step of the process. A trader, for example, could request a token swap that only goes through when the final price meets a predetermined condition, while the application handles the execution details.

Proof-carrying data combines information with cryptographic evidence that it meets defined requirements. Applications can inspect that evidence to verify the information without repeating the calculations that generated it.

Groth16 is a widely used cryptographic proof system that produces small proofs that are efficient to verify. It can confirm that certain conditions have been met without revealing the private data involved.

Bringing these capabilities together could allow developers to build applications that coordinate trades, evaluate complex transaction rules and exchange verified information across services. Cardano could validate a compact proof to confirm compliance rather than rerunning every computation.

Developers currently use Plutus, which is based on Haskell, and Aiken to write Cardano smart contracts. Input Output Global’s privacy-focused blockchain, Midnight, uses another language, Compact, to support applications involving confidential information.

Hoskinson has not yet released the new language’s name, public code or technical specifications. It also remains unclear when developers will gain access to it.