Midnight Network (NIGHT) surges by 200%, privacy coin market heats up across the board

Midnight Network’s NIGHT token surged nearly 200% within 24 hours of its launch on December 9, with a total market capitalization exceeding $1.2 billion and a first-day trading volume of over $320 million, becoming one of the most attention-grabbing new projects in the privacy sector this quarter.

Midnight is positioned as a partner chain of Cardano, with its initial token minting and ledger adopting Cardano’s native asset architecture. As the narrative around privacy coins rapidly heated up after October, Midnight’s launch is seen as hitting a critical point in market sentiment shift. Over the past two months, Zcash experienced a tenfold surge against regulatory pressure, and the total trading volume of privacy coins like Dash, Monero, Railgun, and Decred also approached $3 billion.

This trend is closely linked to stricter European regulations, the return of zero-knowledge technology to focus, and increasing global discussions on digital privacy. The EU’s new regulations plan to ban privacy coins on exchanges starting in 2027, coupled with controversies surrounding the “Chat Control Act” and surveillance measures, leading to a rapid expansion in demand for decentralized privacy infrastructure. Analysts point out that this environment is driving capital to shift from purely anonymous tools to more advanced privacy network architectures.

Midnight was launched in this context, utilizing zero-knowledge proofs and a dual-token model: NIGHT as the core asset, and DUST used for executing private transactions. Its design allows selective disclosure, enabling users to reveal data only when necessary, aligning with the current market demand for technology that is both privacy-protecting and compliant.

The price of NIGHT soared from approximately $0.039 to over $0.085, then slightly retreated, with a circulating supply of 16.6 billion tokens. Investors generally see it as an entry point into the next stage of the privacy technology cycle. However, the privacy sector remains highly volatile. Zcash retraced over 40% from its November high, and Dash encountered resistance after breaking out. Analysts believe that sector rotation will continue in the coming weeks, driven by regulatory pressures and the progress of new projects.

Although it still requires time to validate actual demand, Midnight has undoubtedly become one of the most dynamic projects this quarter. Its performance reflects the market’s accelerating allocation of funds into privacy infrastructure. Against the backdrop of tightening global crypto regulations, privacy technology is moving from a marginal narrative to mainstream discussion, becoming a key focus for the industry’s next stage of competition.