The native token NIGHT of privacy-focused blockchain Midnight has climbed roughly 3-4% in the past 24 hours, trading between $0.048 and $0.051 at press time. The uptick followed key announcements from Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson at the Consensus Hong Kong conference, including collaborations with Google and Telegram and a confirmed late-March mainnet launch timeline.
Partnerships and Mainnet Timeline Revealed
Hoskinson stated during his keynote that Midnight's mainnet is scheduled to go live by the end of March. He also cited Google and Telegram among partners helping to support the network's rollout and infrastructure. Neither company has independently confirmed the arrangement yet. “We have some great collaborations to help us run it,” Hoskinson said. “Google is one of them. Telegram is another. We're really excited, there's more that will come.”
Midnight is positioned as a “selective disclosure” privacy layer, aiming to balance confidentiality with real-world compliance in blockchain applications. Hoskinson made clear that the project will not directly court users from legacy privacy coins like Monero or ZCash. During a Q&A session, he noted: “You don't try to get anybody from Monero or ZCash over.”
Midnight City Simulation Testing Platform
Ahead of mainnet, the team introduced the Midnight City Simulation, a testing environment designed to stress-test network proof generation using AI agents. The platform is intended to identify bottlenecks and ensure the chain's stability before production launch.
Short-Term Price Reaction
Market data shows NIGHT jumped from around $0.046 to $0.049 shortly after the announcements, before settling in the $0.048-$0.051 range. Trading volume increased in parallel. While the partnership and mainnet timeline act as short-term catalysts, the lack of independent confirmation from Google and Telegram leaves some uncertainty. Midnight is designed as a partner chain to Cardano (ADA), using zero-knowledge proofs and a “rational privacy” feature. The next major milestone is the March mainnet launch, which will test the token's ability to sustain its recent gains.