A shift is taking form where people are looking for true privacy. The good old Cardano chain is trying to do just that with its Midnight "L2" upgrade by introducing the Midnight (NIGHT) token.
NIGHT is the unshielded native and governance token of the Midnight Network.
Midnight uses Zero-Knowledge (ZK) smart contracts to enable programmable privacy. Unlike privacy coins designed solely to hide activity, the NIGHT token is public and transparent (unshielded). Its primary role is to secure the network and generate the DUST resource that powers transactions. The fun part of those two tokens is that while NIGHT is just there as a way to generate DUST automatically, DUST is a shielded, non-transferable resource used to pay for transaction fees and execute smart contracts. Yes you read that correctly, NIGHT stays in your wallet to generate DUST which is.. well gas dust for your transactions.
It acts like a battery or a renewable ressource and when consumed, it renegerates over time based on how many NIGHT tokens you have. This keeps your NIGHT holdings stable and allows predictable use of DUST.
The fun part about it? Developers can hold NIGHT to generate enough DUST to cover transaction fees for their users. This allows applications to be "free" at the point of interaction. Thus, it allows people to be onboarded without having to struggle with dust.
Same goes for governance, instead of locking down your NIGHT tokens, users will spend DUST to participate in the network's long term objectives.
The best part, NIGHT will be available natively on both Midnight and Cardano blockchains creating a bridge between the two and allowing supply to travel freely.
This architecture splits the financial layer from the data layer.
- Confidential: Data (ZK proofs) and metadata (shielded transaction data and DUST usage).
- Auditable: Settlement and consensus (Public NIGHT Ledger)
Thank you so much for reading. Midnight layer of Cardano is still underway and so much can still change. If you enjoyed reading this post, send me a tip! I'll be covering the Aztec eth L2 next which also promises privacy, but on the ethereum side of things.
