The Midnight Foundation, the organization behind the privacy-preserving blockchain Midnight, has announced that Google Cloud and MoneyGram have signed on as launch-phase node operators ahead of the network's federated mainnet launch scheduled for late March 2026. Midnight is being developed by Input Output, the team behind Cardano.
The network's core proposition is "rational privacy," focusing on regulatory compatibility rather than total anonymity. It utilizes zero-knowledge proofs to allow users to demonstrate compliance with requirements like AML, KYC, or accreditation credentials without exposing the underlying data. This architecture is specifically designed for regulated financial institutions, banks, and payment networks that need to satisfy audit requirements while protecting sensitive information.
For the initial "Kūkolu" mainnet launch, Midnight will operate under a federated node model with a limited set of pre-selected operators to prioritize stability and accountability. Google Cloud will run critical validator infrastructure and deploy advanced threat monitoring through its Mandiant cybersecurity division. MoneyGram joins as a founding operator to explore integrating its global payments network, which spans approximately 200 countries, onto blockchain rails while maintaining regulatory trust.
Additional launch operators include Vodafone's Pairpoint, the retail brokerage platform eToro, institutional validator service Blockdaemon, and AlphaTON Capital (participating on behalf of Telegram). This initial group of 10 nodes is intended to establish credibility across infrastructure, fintech, and messaging platform use cases from the outset.
The federated launch structure is explicitly temporary. Following the March mainnet, Midnight's roadmap calls for a transition to broader community-driven decentralization later in 2026. This next phase involves onboarding Cardano Stake Pool Operators as validators and introducing staking rewards for NIGHT, the network's native token. The sequencing is a calculated tradeoff, sacrificing short-term decentralization for operational reliability during the initial phase when institutional partners are first deploying live infrastructure.
