The Midnight ecosystem continues to grow, and this month’s State of the Network roundup highlights key new developments and collaborations.
The latest update brings insights straight from the community. Hackathon participants show off zero-knowledge technology for identity solutions, demonstrating real-world applications of privacy tech. New partnerships will expand developer tooling and resources, and a documentation overhaul makes building on Midnight more accessible than ever.
Insights from the Midnight community
A protocol defines rules, but a network is its people, and Midnight’s community is shaping the network every day. From December 2024 through January 2025, community members shared insights through a survey to help inform future development.
The Midnight community brings together many different experience levels:
- About 12% of respondents identified themselves as blockchain developers
When asked about their overall experience with blockchain technology:
- 39% described themselves as seasoned pros
- 46% said they are somewhat experienced
- The remaining 15% of participants are still learning
Midnight is for everyone, whether you're coding, experimenting, or just exploring and learning, the community can help level up your skills.
A big thank you goes out to everyone who took part in the survey. Your feedback drives bug fixes, feature requests, new use cases, and Compact language updates. And if you’re not a developer? You’re just as much a part of the community. As one respondent put it: "I hope you also appreciate those who are not developers but have been following you since day one." The team working on Midnight absolutely does. Keep sharing your thoughts across the community and in future surveys because they are extraordinarily useful.
Stay tuned: a more detailed breakdown of the community survey results will be published in an upcoming blog.
And if you’re looking for more community news and events beyond the technical updates, subscribe to The Midnight Express newsletter.
Ecosystem Use Cases
Fine wines, no leaks in the ZK Identity Challenge
A hackathon entry for the ZK Identity Challenge, by Sergey Kisel and Imants Firsts the team from Brick Towers, showcased Midnight smart contracts functionality to enable private and verifiable digital identity, using a practical e-commerce scenario: online wine sales. Their ZK identity solution ensures buyers meet the legal drinking age without exposing unnecessary personal data.
Here’s how the solution worked:
- Initiating the purchase (transaction request): A customer places an order on the wine store’s website. Order details, including the transaction request, are logged on the blockchain but remain private.
- Age verification (ZK circuit): Instead of uploading an ID, the buyer generates a ZK proof based on their ID, confirming they meet the legal age requirement. This proof is validated within the browser and submitted to a Midnight smart contract.
- Handling failed verification (private client-side notification): If verification fails, the system notifies the user locally without exposing any details on-chain.
- Completing the transaction (state transition): If the proof is valid, the order is processed, and payment is confirmed. The ledger records that:
- A valid purchase was made
- Payment was completed
- The buyer met the age requirement using a trusted identity provider
Using Midnight allows sellers to comply with regulations for selling age-restricted goods without collecting, storing, or managing sensitive personal data. Buyers maintain privacy while proving eligibility, demonstrating a seamless and secure way to handle identity verification on-chain sharing proofs without sending sensitive data.
You can check out all the hackathon submissions on Midnight’s YouTube channel which is a great resource to prepare for the AMM Challenge and is open for submissions until April 1st.Check back soon for full details about the ZK Identity Challenge winners, including insights into the winning projects and the teams behind them.
Ecosystem
Smart contact and DApp libraries
OpenZeppelin, a world leader in smart contract development whose libraries have secured over $21 trillion in value across blockchain ecosystems, is bringing its expertise to the Midnight network with a dedicated Compact smart contract library, standards, and starter applications. This collaboration enables developers to rapidly build and deploy privacy-enhanced applications from mainnet launch using familiar, battle-tested frameworks.
Learn more about how OpenZeppelin's Midnight smart contract library and application starter pack will empower and accelerate development on Midnight.
Real-world asset tokenization
Zoniqx will deploy its enterprise-grade DyCIST (Dynamic Compliant Interoperable Security Token) framework on Midnight.
This collaboration enables financial institutions and enterprise developers to build secure, compliant real-world asset (RWA) tokenization applications that can operate seamlessly across different blockchain networks and jurisdictions. With built-in compliance oracles, identity management, and Midnight's data protection capabilities, enterprises will be able to rapidly develop and test tokenization for assets like real estate, private equity, insurance products, and carbon credits without disrupting existing operations.
Learn more about DyCIST and how Midnight connects traditional finance with blockchain innovation through enterprise-ready RWA tokenization.
Releases & documentation
The documentation portal has been revamped to give developers a clearer, more structured view of all the latest releases and their components.
Component release overview
The new release overview page consolidates everything into one place, displaying the latest component releases at a glance. Each component now includes:
- A summary of changes
- Links to key artifacts like Docker images and Node packages
- Detailed pages with new features, bug fixes, and upgrade instructions
You can also filter components by version number or status, making it easier to find exactly what you need.
Introducing the network compatibility matrix
To help avoid any integration issues, documentation pages now feature the network compatibility matrix: a comprehensive reference showing all compatible components for each release. Whether you're working with the Node, Indexer, Wallet SDK, or DApp APIs, this matrix ensures you never run into unexpected compatibility issues.
The compatibility matrix is kept up-to-date with every release and quick links have been added to this matrix in the tutorial pages, so you can easily verify compatibility while following guides such as installing and using Midnight wallets.
Join the community
To connect directly with the Midnight community, join the Midnight Discord server. It’s the best place to find real-time information, connect with developers, and troubleshoot problems.
[Join the community on Discord now]