The crypto market always talks about transparency, but if all transactions are public, do businesses really want to put financial data on the blockchain?

This paradox is gradually becoming apparent as DeFi begins to touch on RWA use cases and traditional finance. In this context, I started to pay attention to @MidnightNetwork , a privacy chain project announced by IOHK in the Cardano ecosystem since 2023.

The point worth considering lies in the selective disclosure mechanism based on zero-knowledge proof. Users can prove a valid condition without revealing the original data, for example, verifying identity or assets without disclosing all information. With DeFi or KYC on-chain, this is a gap that many public chains still have not addressed well.

The token design is also quite interesting. The system splits into two tokens: $NIGHT for staking and governance, while DUST is used as a fee for private transactions. The dual token model may help stabilize transaction fees, but at the same time raises questions about the long-term demand for the main token.

Looking broadly, the privacy narrative is gradually coming back as the wave of ZK infrastructure enters a maturation phase after a prolonged build cycle from 2024–2025. Projects like Aztec and Aleo have come closer to mainnet after many years of testnet and technology development. If the flow of altcoin money in the 2026 cycle starts to shift towards infrastructure layers, privacy layers may benefit before the actual applications explode. But the big question remains: will the market prioritize a chain specialized for privacy, or a multi-ecosystem infrastructure layer like what #night is testing?