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Privacy-focused blockchain Midnight is expected to go live in the final week of March, according to Charles Hoskinson, founder of Input Output Global (IOG) and a leading figure in the Cardano ecosystem. Hoskinson said the network will launch as a partner chain to Cardano.
The announcement was made during Hoskinson’s keynote speech at Consensus Hong Kong, describing it as a major step in IOG’s efforts to bring data protection and regulatory compliance to decentralized systems.
“We have some great collaborations to help us run it,” Hoskinson said, adding that Google and Telegram are among the partners. He also indicated that additional collaborations are expected.
Midnight is designed to use zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs to support selective disclosure. The approach allows users to share only the information they choose while keeping the rest private, described as a “smart curtain” for blockchain data.
As a partner chain to Cardano’s smart contract platform, Midnight is positioned to provide privacy and regulatory compliance for decentralized applications.
Alongside the mainnet launch timeline, Hoskinson unveiled “Midnight City Simulation,” an interactive platform intended to demonstrate how Midnight delivers scalable privacy through selective disclosure.
IOG described the concept of “rational privacy,” where transaction data remains private by default, while specific information can be shared with authorized parties when needed. The system uses multiple disclosure views—public, auditor, and god—each with a different access level.
According to a press release, the simulation became operational at 10:00 a.m. Hong Kong time on Thursday. However, public access to the simulation remains restricted until Feb. 26.
The simulation runs on the Midnight network and uses AI-driven agents that interact unpredictably to generate a steady flow of transactions, intended to reflect real-world demand and scaling behavior.
IOG said the test demonstrates the network’s ability to generate and process proofs at scale, describing it as an important step toward readiness for real-world use.
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