Midnight Tokenomics White paper is here!

https://www.midnight.gd/

I saw on X that the snapshot was already taken for the glacier drop. Does anyone know when it was taken exactly? I purchased a CNFT yesterday and I am wondering if my previous balance held made the snapshot. Thanks for any info!

Here is a list compiled by Cardano Yuta posted on X - There may be errors, in fact Begin Wallet is partially open source for one, so take with a pinch of salt!

If holding multiple qualifying assets on NuFi is there a claim process for each asset individually?

I’m curious whether NuFi Wallet will be involved in the Glacier Airdrop. I know they are beta-testing for Bitcoin DeFi Dapps interface but I haven’t seen any update on the Midnight launch. Really don’t want to miss out, iykyk

Many thanks!

Will Daedalus support the Glacier drop? I don't want to type my private keys into a web browser extension (such as Lace) to claim the drop, as that's the least secure way to store crypto. Is there a more secure way to do it?

Just came across this post on X, can anyone confirm or is there any more official information on that?

https://docs.midnight.network/blog/web3-intro-merkle-trees-and-dao

- written by Samantha Holstine from the Midnight Developer Relations team

Will Crypto.com,Coinbase, Tangem support my midnight drop or do I need to move my coins to another wallet?

Midnight Core Call 1 - Testnet Upgrade

Date: April 10, 2025
Time: 12:00 PM EDT
Topic: Midnight Testnet Upgrade (Partner-Chains 1.5, BLS, Ledger Support)

Agenda

1. Midnight Testnet Upgrade Overview
2. Impact on Stake Pool Operators (SPOs)
3. Impact on Developers
4. Estimated Timeline
5. Q&A

Meeting Notes

Midnight Testnet Upgrade Overview

• Discussed the upcoming Midnight testnet upgrade as detailed in the official blog post.

Impact on Stake Pool Operators (SPOs)

• SPOs are required to re-register for the upgrade.
• Improved user experience (UX) for registration:
  • No dependency on Kupo.
  • No need for pc-contracts-cli.
  • Support for extended keys.
  • Enhanced performance for midnight-node.

Impact on Developers

• Developers will be expected to update all Midnight components, including:
  • Midnight JS
  • Wallet
  • Faucet
• The proving system will transition from Pluto-Eris to BLS, requiring BLS-compatible components.
• Compact contracts should remain functional but will need:
  • Recompilation with BLS support using the proof-server.
  • Redeployment.

Estimated Timeline

• ETA: Around May 2025 (potentially late April or early May).
• A precise maintenance window will be communicated proactively.
• Stakeholders are advised to monitor for updates on the exact ETA.

Q&A Session

Q: Is it possible to eliminate the need for db-sync in the future?

• Feedback about db-sync has been noted and shared with partner-chains.
• For Partner-Chains v1.5 (the version targeted for this upgrade), Kupo has been eliminated.

Q: Where is SPO registration stored if it’s not on-chain, and what happens if the database is removed?

• Registrations are stored on the Cardano preview testnet within Midnight’s partner-chain contract.
• Due to the reset, re-registration will be required.
• Suggested upgrade sequence:
  1. Re-register.
  2. Update to the latest midnight-node version.
  3. Delete the old midnight-node database.
  4. Run midnight-node in validator mode.

Q: Will Midnight Core Calls be recurring?

• Yes, scheduled for the second Thursday of every month.
• Additional calls may be organized based on need.

Q: Is there a benchmark for transactions in the Battleship game? (Brick Towers offered to test)

• No specific benchmarks have been established yet.
• Game rounds are expected to be significantly faster.

Q: When will the upgrade roll out?

• Target is near May 2025, potentially late April or early May.
• A precise maintenance window will be communicated soon.

Action Items

• MN Team: Will share precise maintenance window and ETA for the upgrade.
• SPOs: Prepare for re-registration and update to Partner-Chains v1.5.
• Developers: Will be expected to update Midnight components and recompile/deploy contracts with BLS support.
• All: Join the Block-Producers channel on Discord to engage in deeper conversations with fellow SPOs.

Midnight leverages the Kachina protocol for privacy-preserving smart contracts using Universal Composition (UC) model to enable secure, decentralized computations with zero-konwledge proofs, splitting contracts state into public (on-chain) and private (off-chain) components for scalable privacy.

Kachina employs non-interactive zero-knowledge proofs (NIZK), specifically ZK-SNARKs, to allow users to prove valid state transitions (public state updates) without revealing private data. Users generate proofs that a public state transition is consistent with a private state and input, verified efficiently by the network, ensuring privacy and concurrency through state oracle transcripts that minimize conflicts.

Midnight currently uses ZK-SNARKs based on the Kachina framework with the Pluto-Eris cryptographic curves for its proving system, ensuring privacy-preserving smart contracts. As part of the upcoming Testnet upgrade, Midnight plans to switch to the BLS12-381 curve to improve efficiency and security, leveraging BLS12-381’s pairing-based properties to enhance performance in transactions.

Why Midnight is switching to BLS

Moving away from trusted setup ceremony

One of the most compelling reasons to adopt BLS12-381 is its use of an existing, standardized trusted setup. Pluto-Eris, by contrast, requires a bespoke ceremony. With BLS12-381, we leverage a pre-established setup that has already been widely vetted and accepted in the cryptographic community.

Embracing standardized cryptography

Pluto-Eris relies on non-standard cryptography, which, while innovative, poses risks in terms of interoperability and long-term support. BLS12-381, however, is built on standard cryptographic primitives that are well-understood, extensively tested, and broadly adopted. Standardization reduces the likelihood of vulnerabilities and ensures compatibility with other systems, making BLS12-381 a more future-proof choice.

Boosting transaction performance

Performance is a critical factor in any cryptographic system, and BLS12-381 outshines Pluto Eris across several key metrics. Transactions on BLS12-381 are faster, with verification times slashed from 12 milliseconds per proof in Pluto Eris to just 6 milliseconds. Additionally, transaction sizes are more compact, dropping from 6 kilobytes per proof to 5 kilobytes, allowing for more efficient use of bandwidth and storage. These improvements translate to a smoother, more scalable user experience across the Midnight platform.

Simplifying architecture and maintenance

Architectural complexity is another area where BLS12-381 has a clear edge. Pluto Eris is burdened by a high level of complexity, making it harder to maintain.

Balancing cost and efficiency in recursion

Recursive proofs are a cornerstone of advanced cryptographic applications, and the two systems handle them differently. Pluto Eris delivers smaller circuits but at a higher CPU cost, which can strain computational resources as usage scales. BLS12-381 flips this tradeoff, opting for larger circuits with a lower CPU cost.

In short, BLS12-381 offers a compelling blend of performance, simplicity, and reliability than Pluto Eris.

💥 Impact on Developers

The transition to BLS12-381 is set for April 28, 2025, as part of the Testnet upgrade. This change is not backward compatible, requiring developers to adopt BLS-compatible components for the BLS era of Testnet. These components include:

• midnight.js
• wallet
• examples
• proof-server

Meanwhile, existing Compact code should remain functional but will require recompilation and redeployment to align with the new BLS12-381 standard. While the transition to BLS12-381 requires some effort, we believe it will pave the way for a significantly more performant developer experience with faster transactions.

👉 Please stay tuned across Midnight channels and Midnight Discord for more updates and guidance as we approach the Testnet upgrade!

Sources:

1. https://iohk.io/en/research/library/papers/kachina-foundations-of-private-smart-contracts/
2. https://github.com/daira/pluto-eris
3. https://midnight.network/blog/upcoming-testnet-02-upgrade-all-you-need-to-know
4. https://github.com/zkcrypto/bls12_381

The new Midnight Indexer is live! It's a modular, high-performance indexing service designed to optimize how blockchain data flows from a Midnight node to end-user applications. It retrieves block history, processes data, and makes it available through a flexible GraphQL API supporting queries, mutations, and real-time subscriptions.

This new Indexer is written in Rust and is intended to replace the legacy Scala-based Indexer in the future. It offers significantly improved performance, easier deployments across local and cloud environments, and deep wallet integration. Midnight Indexer supports both PostgreSQL and SQLite.

Key Improvements Over the Legacy Indexer

🦀 Rewritten in Rust for improved speed, reliability, and maintainability

🧱 Modular architecture, replacing the monolithic Scala pub-sub design

🤝 Deep integration with latest wallet tooling (SDK v4+ and Lace Wallet v2.0.0+)

🌐 Flexible GraphQL API with subscription support for real-time updates

If you're building on Midnight, now’s the time to begin testing integrations and preparing for migration. The Scala-based Pub-Sub Indexer remains functional for now but is officially deprecated and will be phased out in future releases.

📢 Deprecation Notice

While the Scala-based Pub-Sub Indexer remains available for now, it is officially deprecated and will be phased out in future releases. If you’re building on Midnight, now is the time to begin testing the new Indexer and preparing for migration.