Cardano Partner Chain Midnight Launches Mainnet With Dual-Token System and ZK Technology

Midnight is a privacy-focused partner chain backed by the Cardano ecosystem that aims to reconcile public-blockchain transparency with financial compliance. It uses ZK-SNARKs to let users verify transactions without disclosing the underlying data and employs a NIGHT/DUST dual-token architecture. Holders of NIGHT, which has a total supply of 24 billion tokens, continuously generate the non-transferable DUST needed to pay for transactions, reducing fee volatility.

Charles Hoskinson announced the launch of Midnight’s mainnet, whose genesis block was produced at 03:17 UTC on March 17, 2026. On March 25, the Midnight Foundation partnered with Monument Bank, which manages about £7 billion in deposits. The first phase aims to tokenize up to £250 million in retail deposits at a 1:1 ratio, with the tokens redeemable for pounds sterling.