The NIGHT token of Midnight Network has increased by almost 200% in the 24 hours following its launch on December 9, becoming the most trending asset on CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap.
The token has reached a market capitalization of over 1.2 billion dollars and recorded over 320 million dollars in trading volume during its first full day.
Mega bullish season for privacy coins?
From an architectural point of view, Midnight is designed as a "partner chain" or sidechain of Cardano. Its initial token and ledger are issued on Cardano (as a Cardano Native Asset).
The market debut, characterized by significant hype, places Midnight Network at the center of a broader change in the sector. Privacy coins have seen a rally starting in October.
More recently, growth has been driven by regulatory pressure in Europe, tightening surveillance rules, and renewed interest in zero-knowledge technology.
Zcash kicked off this trend with a tenfold increase between October and mid-November. The rise coincided with the EU's approval of rules that will prohibit exchanges from listing privacy coins starting in 2027.
Traders have shifted to Dash, Railgun, Decred, and Monero as the sector gained momentum, bringing privacy token volumes to nearly 3 billion dollars at peak moments.
However, the rally has been accompanied by some tension. Analysts warn that a tightening of regulatory controls could force privacy-related assets to spill out of regulated platforms.
At the same time, controversies over EU surveillance measures and the Chat Control bill proposal have strengthened demand for technologies that preserve confidentiality.
In this context, the launch of Midnight has arrived at the perfect moment. The project positions itself as a privacy-first network based on zero-knowledge proof and a dual-token model.
NIGHT acts as the main asset, while DUST serves to fund private transactions. The model allows for selective disclosure, making data visible only when necessary.
This structure aligns with the market's rotation toward privacy infrastructures rather than simple anonymity tools. It is also consistent with growing concerns about wallet traceability, identity verification obligations, and the future of personal data in digital finance.
The narrative around crypto privacy is taking off.
Interest in trading has mirrored this narrative. NIGHT has risen from around $0.039 to over $0.085 before a slight retracement. Its circulating supply reached 16.6 billion tokens, with investors seeing the launch as a gateway to the next phase of the technology cycle related to privacy.
Yet, the privacy coin sector remains volatile. Zcash experienced a retracement of over 40% after the November peak, while Dash's breakout in early December lost momentum.
Analysts expect the rotation among leaders to continue as regulation becomes stricter and new privacy-focused projects emerge.
So far, Midnight has gathered the strongest launch momentum among all new tokens of the quarter. Its rise demonstrates how quickly capital is shifting toward privacy infrastructures as the regulatory environment becomes increasingly restrictive.
The next test will be to see if demand remains high when the initial hype fades and the market shifts its focus from narrative to actual usage.
