Cardano’s privacy sidechain Midnight Network has launched browser-based mining for its native NIGHT token, and participation is already huge. According to Sebastien Guillemot, CTO of the Midnight Foundation, over 1 million Cardano addresses are currently mining NIGHT.
How to mine NIGHT tokens. What makes Midnight necessary for Cardano Source: Midnight Foundation on X
How to mine NIGHT tokens
The second phase, called Scavenger Mine, began operations on October 29 and can last about 20 days. Anyone with a Cardano wallet, a desktop or laptop browser, and web access can now take part in Mining NIGHT. Users don’t need any special equipment or technical setup to mine NIGHT tokens.
Source: Midnight
Participants follow a brief, browser-based workflow on the official Midnight website:
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Choose a destination address – a legitimate Cardano address to receive mined tokens.
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Accept the Token End User Terms – acknowledge the NIGHT distribution rules.
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Solve cryptographic challenges – basic browser-based tasks that confirm activity and distribute tokens fairly.
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View submitted solutions – track challenges accomplished and awards earned.
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After this phase, a redemption period begins. Users can then claim and redeem allotments earned during Glacier Drop (the primary round of distribution) and the present Scavenger Mine phase.
Prior to Scavenger Mine, Midnight held its Glacier Drop event from August fifth to October twentieth, during which roughly 250 million NIGHT tokens were distributed across eight blockchains. More than 11,000 users participated on this phase.
Glacier Drop is now closed and Scavenger Mine serves as a follow-up distribution phase with an emphasis on open participation.
What makes Midnight necessary for Cardano
Midnight is a sidechain created and managed by Input Output Global (IOG) – the identical company behind the core development of Cardano. Unlike a typical third-party project, it acts as an infrastructure layer designed to expand Cardano's privacy, compliance, and confidential computing capabilities.
Midnight uses zero-knowledge proof (ZK technology) to enable selective disclosure, allowing users to confirm data or identities without revealing private information. This makes it suitable for decentralized finance (DeFi), identity verification, and enterprise applications that require KYC and regulatory compliance – features that Cardano's predominant chain doesn’t support natively.
Additionally, the project is designed as a way for Cardano to mix transparency and privacy and supply developers with tools to construct each open and compliant blockchain applications.
Cardano founder and IOG CEO Charles Hoskinson has openly promoted the project and encouraged users to assert and mine NIGHT tokens using the Scavenger Mine interface. He described Midnight as a core privacy layer within the Cardano ecosystem and urged the team to speed up development.
Hoskinson's primary goal is for Midnight to develop into a number one privacy smart contract platform by 2026. He also mentioned possible integrations between Midnight's zero-knowledge infrastructure and privacy-focused web services like Brave Ads and Brave VPN, and highlighted possible overlaps with real-world privacy tools.
