Charles Hoskinson, founder of Input Output Global (IOG), announced that the long-awaited privacy-focused blockchain Midnight will officially launch during the final week of March 2026. The announcement was made during his keynote speech at Consensus Hong Kong, marking a significant milestone for Cardano's ecosystem.
Hoskinson stated, "We have some great collaborations to help us run it. Google is one of them. Telegram is another. We're really excited, there's more that will come." These partnerships position Midnight as a major initiative with substantial industry backing.
Midnight is designed as a partner chain to Cardano's main smart contract platform, utilizing zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs to enable selective disclosure of data. This approach allows users to share only specific information while keeping the rest private, addressing both privacy concerns and regulatory compliance needs for decentralized applications.
Alongside the mainnet announcement, Hoskinson unveiled the Midnight City Simulation, an interactive platform hosted at midnight.city that demonstrates how the blockchain handles scalable privacy through selective disclosure. The simulation, which became operational at 10:00 a.m. Hong Kong time on February 12, 2026, uses AI-driven agents to generate unpredictable transaction flows, testing the network's ability to process proofs at scale.
The simulation features multiple disclosure views categorized as public, auditor, and god, each with different access levels. This "rational privacy" approach ensures transaction data remains private by default while allowing authorized parties to access specific information when necessary. Public access to the simulation will remain restricted until February 26, 2026.
Hoskinson's earlier statement on X that "Midnight fixes everything" has generated significant excitement within the Cardano community, with supporters viewing the initiative as a strategic evolution rather than a minor upgrade. The announcement reinforces expectations that Midnight could materially influence Cardano's network trajectory and address long-standing structural challenges.
