Privacy Is Back and Midnight Network Is Leading the Charge, Here’s How

Introduction

These days everyone seems to be talking about privacy. People are worried about how their data is used and shared online. In the world of crypto and blockchain this concern is even stronger because every transaction is normally public and permanent. This has pushed builders and users to look for solutions that protect personal details while still letting people use digital assets in new ways. That curiosity is what led many to dig deeper into Midnight Network.

What Is Midnight and Why the Buzz?

Midnight is a new type of blockchain that puts privacy at the center of what it does. It uses advanced cryptography called zero-knowledge proofs, so you can prove something is true without showing the actual information. This allows users and apps to keep transaction details and sensitive data hidden while still being secure and verifiable on-chain.

Recently, Midnight had a very successful token launch with its native token called NIGHT, going live as a Cardano native asset in December 2025. This launch included one of the largest token distributions ever seen in crypto history, with a total supply of 24 billion NIGHT tokens. 

During the Glacier Drop phase alone, over 3.5 billion NIGHT tokens were claimed by more than 170,000 wallet addresses, and in the Scavenger Mine phase an additional 1 billion NIGHT tokens were claimed by over 8 million unique wallets, making it one of the broadest participation events across multiple blockchains. The first 4.5 billion claimed tokens are now entering a 450-day unlock schedule, with quarterly vesting to help reduce sudden sell pressure. 

NIGHT is already tradable across major exchanges such as Binance, Kraken, OKX and Gate.io, while ~16.6 billion tokens are currently circulating in the wider market.

Privacy Is the Thing Right Now

Privacy has become a hot topic. People do not want their finances, health information, or personal details exposed for everyone to see. Midnight responds to that demand by giving users control over what is visible and what stays hidden. You can choose to reveal only what is needed, and keep everything else private. This is different from older blockchain systems where every detail is on public view forever.

How Midnight Compares to Peers

To understand where Midnight fits, it helps to look at something like Canton Network. Canton is also designed with privacy in mind, but it was built by big financial institutions to let regulated entities exchange assets and data while keeping sensitive pieces hidden from others. It still requires some level of permission and control because it targets regulated markets.

Midnight, on the other hand, is permissionless. That means no single owner controls who can use it or what you can do on it. Your trades, contracts, and data remain private by default. In contrast, Canton’s privacy is tailored for institutional use and is controlled by the network participants within regulatory boundaries. Midnight aims to let anyone use the network without asking permission from an owner.

And this is only scratching the surface; as a full comparison with other privacy protocols is something we will save for a dedicated deep dive.

How Permissionless Privacy Translates Into Real Use Cases

Because Midnight does not own the network and does not require users to seek approval before interacting with it, it unlocks a much wider range of real-world use cases. Banks and financial institutions, for example, could use Midnight to settle transactions, manage compliance, or verify activity without exposing customer balances, counterparties, or trading behavior on a public ledger. 

Similarly, healthcare systems could record and verify medical data on-chain while keeping patient identities and records private. In both cases, organizations can meet regulatory requirements and audit needs, while privacy is enforced directly at the protocol level rather than added later as a workaround.

Where Midnight Is Headed Next

The project is moving from its early launch phase toward a full mainnet with real applications running on it. That means developers will soon be able to build privacy-preserving decentralized apps that use Midnight’s technology. 

The project has already moved past its early launch phase and is now following a four-stage roadmap that gradually builds the network toward full decentralization and real use cases. The first phase, called Hilo, focused on launching the NIGHT token, establishing liquidity, and getting the network’s economy in place. 

The next phase, Kūkolu, is set for Q1 2026 and will bring a federated mainnet where developers can deploy the first privacy-preserving applications live on Midnight. The third stage, Mōhalu, planned for mid-2026, broadens participation and introduces incentives for more network validators as it moves toward decentralization. 

The final phase, Hua, aims to unlock full decentralization and enable hybrid and cross-chain applications, letting Midnight’s privacy capabilities work with other blockchains. As Midnight moves through these phases, it is quietly shaping a future where privacy, usability, and regulation can finally coexist on-chain.

The focus now is on scaling, deploying real use cases, and expanding tooling so more people can work with privacy-first blockchain tech. 

If you enjoyed this article and want to learn more about what Midnight is building, follow them on X for the latest updates.