Midnight Network Launch
The Midnight network is officially live. The genesis block was created on March 17 at 3:17am UTC, and marks the introduction of state continuity and permanence in the network.
This launch follows years of research, development, and collaboration to develop the fourth generation of blockchain technology. Scientists, engineers, developers, partners, and the community all made substantial and ongoing contributions to the development of the network from its inception.
Leading institutions operating federated nodes
To ensure rigorous security and operational stability at launch, Midnight utilizes a federated node model. World-class institutional partners provide the underlying infrastructure required to meet the demands of live applications. As stewards of the network, the Midnight Foundation intends to transition from this federated model to a fully decentralized network. This planned evolution allows the ecosystem to scale while moving toward a fully decentralized and permissionless network in subsequent phases of the roadmap.
Multiphase application deployment
The rollout of the Midnight network from genesis block follows a structured multi-phase path to decentralization, and will begin with an initial phased application deployment rollout period to ensure operational stability and security. This is essentially an early phase where developers and applications can access the network’s functionality within a protected environment. This structured approach allows users to have more confidence that the early DApps and services launching on the network are from developers who have met rigorous readiness criteria.
To learn more about the network launch, read the full announcement blog.
Applications
Midnight City
Midnight City Simulation is a unique way to experience Midnight, demonstrating how the network scales to support rational privacy for real-world applications. By populating a digital economy with autonomous AI agents, the simulation generates continuous transaction volume to test protocol resilience under sustained activity.
Midnight City is regularly updated, and now supports mobile browsers. Jump into the simulation at midnight.city.
Midnight Dominion
Midnight ecosystem partner Webisoft has developed Dominion, a fully on-chain poker game where no one can manipulate the game.
The platform deploys Midnight’s ZK technology to solve the "black box" problem of online poker, where players must trust a central server without any means of verification. By using shielded smart contracts, Dominion ensures that player cards remain private while the protocol cryptographically verifies that the deck is shuffled fairly and the game rules are followed.
Read the deep dive from Webisoft explaining how Midnight makes this possible.
Network Pulse
As the network has just launched, design of the new reporting metrics is currently underway.
In the meantime, monitor live network activity at midnightexplorer.com.
Education & resources
The Preprod environment is the final testing stage for developers before moving to Midnight network. This environment mirrors production conditions, allowing for the verification of smart contract logic and zero-knowledge circuits. Learn more about how to get ready to deploy to the Midnight network.
Visibility and repository tagging
To ensure development activity is recognized in ecosystem rankings such as the Electric Capital Developer Report, developers should add specific topics to their public GitHub repositories. Adding the tag midnightntwrk (and Compact where applicable) allows ecosystem aggregators to identify and track project progress. This practice increases individual project visibility while contributing to the documented growth of the Midnight network, learn more in the recent dev diaries blog.
New Midnight Academy Module
The Midnight Developer Academy has launched module 301: Advanced Applications - Zero-Knowledge DApp Development, a hands-on course designed for engineers ready to build production-grade zero-knowledge dApps. Participants move beyond theory to master the Compact toolchain, Proof Server, and Midnight SDK by building a privacy-preserving bulletin board application. The curriculum covers essential ZK engineering tasks, including designing shielded contracts with private witnesses, managing public versus private state, and deploying finished applications to the Preprod environment.
Join the conversation
There’s more to learn every week on the Developer Fireside Hang. Pull up a seat and join the conversation every Wednesday at 15:00 UTC on YouTube.
Ecosystem
The ecosystem is expanding rapidly as institutional partners and developers deploy the core infrastructure and applications that will expand the network’s utility.
Federated Node Partnerships
The federated network launches with an alliance of world-leading institutions contributing to network stability and security. By involving leading global institutions, the Midnight Foundation will ensure that infrastructure is managed by operators with proven experience handling high-volume, mission-critical data.
Alongside the critical work of supporting the network they will also be expanding the network's utility through strategic initiatives and applications. Learn more about the federated node partners and what else they will be building: Worldpay, Bullish, MoneyGram, Pairpoint by Vodafone, eToro, AlphaTON Capital, Google Cloud, Blockdaemon, and Shielded Technologies.
Monument Bank
The Midnight Foundation is partnering with Monument Bank to launch the first retail offering in the UK to tokenize deposits on a public blockchain. This initiative brings institutional-grade technology to the high street, allowing the bank to mirror interest-bearing deposits on the Midnight network while maintaining FSCS protection. By utilizing Midnight's programmable privacy, Monument Bank can shield sensitive transaction data and satisfy regulatory disclosure requirements, a balance that previously prevented regulated banks from using public networks. Read the full announcement.
Wallets
Lace, CNTRL, and 1am wallets provide the primary interfaces for managing assets and interacting with private smart contracts on Midnight. These are the first wallets, of many, to be compatible with the Midnight network.
Block Explorer
Block explorers serve as the essential data layer for the network, allowing users to verify transaction finality and monitor network health. While Midnight utilizes zero-knowledge technology to shield sensitive data, these tools provide the necessary visibility into historical data on the public ledger. Check out Midnight Explorer.
For more information about the partnerships across the Midnight ecosystem, check out the ecosystem catalog.
Releases & Documentation
March releases mark critical transitions with releases alongside Midnight network launch. Alongside the ongoing multiphased approach to development, versioning requirements may update frequently. Developers should monitor the official release notes and documentation for the latest compatibility requirements.
For a full list of technical changes, review the latest release notes.
Developer Best Practices
Following developer best practices, it is always recommended to:
- Migrate to Preprod: Use these latest versions to test deployments on the Preprod environment, which mirrors Midnight network.
- Update dependencies: Ensure all projects are running the latest versions.
- Check the compatibility matrix: Find the latest versions that have been tested to work together on the Preview and Preprod environments
Jump right into the discussion and join the community on Discord.