Cardano’s privacy sidechain Midnight Network has launched browser-based mining for its native NIGHT token, and participation is already massive. Over 1 million Cardano addresses are currently mining NIGHT, according to Midnight Foundation CTO Sebastien Guillemot.
How to Mine NIGHT Token
The second phase, called Scavenger Mine, went live on Oct. 29 and will run for about 20 days. Anyone with a Cardano wallet, a desktop or laptop browser, and internet access can now take part in mining NIGHT. Users don’t need any kind of special equipment or technical setup to mine NIGHT token.
Participants follow a short, browser-based workflow on the official Midnight site:
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Choose a destination address – a valid Cardano address to receive mined tokens.
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Accept the Token End-User Terms – acknowledge the rules governing NIGHT distribution.
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Solve cryptographic challenges – basic browser-based tasks that verify activity and distribute tokens fairly.
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View submitted solutions – track completed challenges and earned allocations.
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After this phase ends, a redemption period will open. Users will then be able to claim and redeem the allocations earned during both the Glacier Drop (the first distribution round) and the current Scavenger Mine phase.
Before Scavenger Mine, Midnight ran its Glacier Drop event from Aug. 5 to Oct. 20, distributing about 250 million NIGHT tokens across eight blockchains. More than 11,000 users participated in that phase.
Glacier Drop has now closed, and Scavenger Mine serves as the follow-up distribution stage focused on open participation.
What Makes Midnight Important for Cardano
Midnight is a sidechain built and maintained by Input Output Global (IOG) — the same firm behind Cardano’s core development. Unlike a typical third-party project, it functions as an infrastructure layer designed to extend Cardano’s capabilities into data privacy, compliance, and confidential computation.
Midnight uses zero-knowledge proofs (ZK technology) to enable selective disclosure, allowing users to verify data or identities without exposing private information. This makes it suitable for decentralized finance (DeFi), identity verification, and enterprise applications that require KYC and regulatory compliance — features the main Cardano chain does not natively support.
Additionally, the project has been framed as a way for Cardano to bridge transparency and privacy, giving developers tools to build both open and compliant blockchain applications.
Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano and CEO of IOG, has been openly promoting the project, encouraging users to claim NIGHT tokens and mine through the Scavenger Mine interface. He has called Midnight a core privacy layer within the Cardano ecosystem and urged the team to accelerate development.
Above all, Hoskinson’s goal is for Midnight to become a leading privacy-smart-contract platform by 2026. He has also mentioned potential integrations between Midnight’s zero-knowledge infrastructure and privacy-driven web services like Brave Ads and Brave VPN, showing possible crossover with real-world privacy tools.