I have a habit when researching a new project: look at the team first, and the technology second. Not because the technology isn't important. In crypto, great technology with the wrong team still dies. A strong team, on the other hand, can rebuild.
With @MidnightNetwork , I started with the founder: Charles Hoskinson. Not simply because he's well known, but because of one specific decision. He put $200 million of his own money into the project, choosing not to raise venture capital. Most founders I know would have called a16z on day one. Hoskinson didn't.
No VC isn't just a "fair launch" talking point. It means no funds sitting on discounted tokens, no unlock cliffs dropping six or twelve months after launch. Hoskinson watched that play out with Cardano. Choosing not to repeat it with $NIGHT wasn't an accident.
Hoskinson gets the attention, but the part I found more interesting is how Midnight is actually structured. Not just another IOG project. Core tech sits in Shielded Technologies, Eran Barak running it. Governance in the Midnight Foundation. Already separated before mainnet even goes live.
This structure is not entirely new. The Ethereum Foundation follows a similar model. What stands out is that Midnight is building this from the beginning, before the network is fully live, rather than concentrating power in a single entity and decentralizing only after the project becomes large.
Compared to other zero-knowledge projects, the difference is fairly clear. Aztec has been backed by major venture funds, Aleo follows a similar path. Both have growing developer ecosystems, but both carry the pressure of future token unlocks for early investors. Midnight is choosing a slower path, but one with fewer external constraints.
Of course, avoiding VC funding has real trade-offs. Fewer resources for ecosystem grants, fewer connections with large funds that often open doors to enterprise partnerships. That's a genuine cost, not just a clean narrative.
The question I still cannot answer is whether this team can execute in the next phase. Building technology and building adoption are very different skills. IOG has demonstrated strong technical capability through Cardano. Whether anyone actually uses what they build is still an open question after many years.
For Midnight, that question starts being answered at the end of this month. IOG knows how to build. Whether anyone will use it is a different story.