The Cardano Midnight team has minted the full supply of 24 billion NIGHT tokens ahead of the mainnet launch of Midnight, Cardano’s privacy-focused sidechain.
In a recent announcement, the team explained that it created the entire NIGHT token supply as Cardano Native Assets (CNAs) in partnership with Midnight TGE and its technical collaborators. Onchain data shows that the team minted the full supply at exactly 5:34 PM on Oct. 14, 2025.
Details of the NIGHT Token Minting
This minting represents the first time NIGHT exists directly on-chain and gives the token a permanent and verifiable record on the Cardano blockchain. With the completion of this process, the team has now established the foundation for NIGHT’s distribution and future use across the network.
According to the announcement, right now, all 24 billion tokens sit in a smart contract, which will hold them until the project completes the Glacier Drop and Scavenger Mine stages.
Notably, this will help prevent any early movement of the tokens and ensure transparency as each phase comes up. The minting transaction also defined important details for the Glacier Drop’s gradual release schedule and outlined how tokens will unlock over time.
The minting is part of a larger rollout plan to guide Midnight from early testing toward full decentralization. The Glacier Drop has an important role in the plan. Specifically, it will distribute NIGHT tokens to millions of eligible wallet holders across leading blockchains.
The claim window for the airdrop opened earlier this year and closed at 13:00 UTC on Oct. 20, 2025. With the end of this phase, the Scavenger Mine will begin, which will allow participants to complete puzzles or computational challenges to earn additional NIGHT rewards.
When both stages finish, the project will move into the Redemption Phase, where eligible users can finally claim their NIGHT tokens. This phase will also activate token allocations for network reserves, block producer rewards, and other key participants, all of which are detailed in the project’s tokenomics and incentive plans.
Progress Around Midnight
Alongside the minting, the Midnight team continues to make progress across its roadmap. The mainnet launch remains on track for the fourth quarter of 2025. Interestingly, the Glacier Drop campaign already spans more than 34 million eligible wallets across several blockchains, including BTC, ADA, XRP, SOL, ETH, and BNB.
In August 2025, the team added Ledger and Trezor wallet support, allowing Bitcoin holders to verify eligibility through secure null transactions. Around the same time, Midnight expanded Bitcoin integration, making it possible for users to claim tokens directly.
Notably, Cardano stake pool operators will also benefit from the launch. Specifically, they will earn both ADA and NIGHT tokens for producing blocks once the mainnet goes live. Operators like ENIGMA have already produced more than 756 blocks on the testnet.
Meanwhile, the project’s developer ecosystem also continues to grow, with new tools for formal verification, Aiken support, and upcoming zero-knowledge (ZK) smart contracts planned for integration on the mainnet. Midnight also boasts over 100 partnerships at press time.
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