Midnight

• Midnight is a privacy-focused Layer 1 developed within the Cardano ecosystem, offering selective disclosure.

• It uses a dual-token model: holding NIGHT generates DUST, which pays for private transactions.

• NIGHT is the governance and utility asset; DUST is consumed rather than traded.

• Holding NIGHT continuously generates DUST, which is consumed by transactions.

• The principal NIGHT balance is not spent on fees, giving predictable transaction costs.

• NIGHT is used for governance and block producer incentives.

Pros:

• Selective disclosure lets users prove compliance without revealing everything, which pure privacy chains cannot.

• The dual-token model means transaction costs do not consume the holder's principal.

• Backed by Input Output, with substantial cryptographic research capability.

Cons:

• Privacy chains face active regulatory pressure and exchange delistings in several jurisdictions.

• The dual-token model is unusual and will confuse many users.

• Launched recently with limited ecosystem.

• Exposure to programmable privacy with a compliance-aware design.

• The dual-token fee model is genuinely novel.

• Weigh the regulatory trajectory for privacy infrastructure, which is the dominant risk.

• Holding the token generates a separate resource that pays for private transactions, so using the network never depletes the holder's balance.

• Privacy chains face a binary choice: full anonymity that regulators reject, or transparency that businesses cannot use.

• Selective disclosure lets a user reveal specific facts to specific parties while keeping the rest private.

• Developed by Input Output, the company behind Cardano, founded by Charles Hoskinson.

• Led by Eran Barak.

• No public ICO. Distributed through airdrop to Cardano and other ecosystem holders in 2025.

• Privacy infrastructure faces regulatory pressure and delisting risk.

• Dual-token model is complex and prone to user misunderstanding.

• Very early ecosystem.

• Dependency on Cardano ecosystem support.