- Midnight’s NIGHT token jumped 27% after mainnet enabled fully public deployment.
- Midnight uses zero-knowledge proofs to verify personal data without exposing it.
- Charles Hoskinson joked about his protocol called Midnight Express online today.
NIGHT, the native token of Cardano-linked privacy network Midnight, rose as much as 27% in 24 hours, hitting an intraday high of $0.053 before trading near $0.050. The token’s market capitalization climbed to $833 million, the data showed. NIGHT has risen roughly 159% since early September.
Mainnet Deployment Goes Permissionless
The rally followed Midnight opening permissionless smart contract deployment on its mainnet, removing the mandatory security review that previously gated new contracts on its Preprod testing environment. The network has operated since March 2026.
Developers can now deploy contracts directly to mainnet, and applications can deploy contracts on behalf of their own users, a change aimed at simplifying onboarding for people outside the crypto-native user base.
Hoskinson Quip Adds to Social Media Buzz
Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson added to the online chatter around the rally with a post referencing a “private pub/sub protocol called Midnight Express,” a lighthearted remark rather than a technical announcement. The post came in response to a tweet, which predicted NIGHT was “about to pump” and pointed to banks and real-world use cases as reasons for the token’s rise.
Related: Why Charles Hoskinson Says He Is Not Cardano’s CEO
Privacy Pitch Behind the Rally
Midnight uses zero-knowledge proofs to let applications verify specific facts, such as payment eligibility or compliance status, without exposing underlying data like salaries, account balances or medical records.
Expert David Gokhshtein argued the token could replicate Zcash’s (ZEC) trajectory over a full market cycle, citing potential use cases in payroll, lending and healthcare applications.
Ecosystem Activity Adds to Momentum
Coinciding with the mainnet upgrade, wallet provider Gero released version 2.7.1 with full Midnight support, including shielded balances and sponsored transaction fees. Google Cloud added a Midnight testnet faucet to its Web3 portal.
Related: 24 Hour Crypto Recap: Here’s What Happened in the Market
Ura Finance began piloting fee sponsorship for applications, and 37 developers completed a cross-chain sprint with VIA Labs focused on private invoicing tools using USDM. Security firm OpenZeppelin, which builds Midnight’s smart contract library, separately entered an acquisition agreement with S&P Global.
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