Brothers, I've talked about the privacy track a few times, but this wave of major actions before the mainnet launch, is truly something—Worldpay and Bullish have just officially announced their participation in node operations, which directly pokes at the heart of traditional finance.
First, let's talk about the weight of these two new players:
Worldpay, one of the largest payment platforms globally, covers 6 million merchants, processing approximately $3.7 trillion in transactions annually and operating in over 175 countries. What do they want to do? Build payment infrastructure with the dollar stablecoin USDG on Midnight, conducting proof of concept for B2B/B2C payments—ensuring compliance (AML/KYC) while protecting transaction data privacy. Isn't this the 'DeFi vault' that traditional finance has always wanted?
Bullish is even bolder, planning to build private reserve proof (PoR) on Midnight's ZK layer. Previously, CEXs had to disclose wallet addresses, partners, and transaction histories to prove solvency; now that's no longer necessary—zero-knowledge proofs handle it, only telling the outside world 'I have money', without revealing where the money is. This addresses the biggest contradiction in the market: the need for transparency (verify) while maintaining confidentiality (privacy).
Let’s take another look at the complete circle of friends:
The Midnight mainnet was initially operated by 10 founding nodes. Besides these two new faces, there are also:
· MoneyGram: MoneyGram, covering over 200 countries, with nearly 400,000 agent locations
· Pairpoint by Vodafone: A joint venture between Vodafone and Sumitomo Corporation, focusing on the Internet of Things economy
· eToro: A trading platform serving 35 million users
· Google Cloud, Blockdaemon, Shielded Technologies
· AlphaTON Capital: Helps nearly 1 billion Telegram users deploy privacy AI proxies, has signed a monthly revenue agreement + 20% profit sharing
This lineup, is it not an exaggeration to call it an 'institution-level DeFi reserve team'?
Technical progress and data:
During the testnet phase, over 180 Cardano SPO participated in the verification. The roadmap is divided into four stages: Hilo (completed), Kūkolu (federal mainnet, which is now), Mōhalu (incentive testnet), Hua (fully decentralized, expected by the end of 2026).
Hoskinson himself invested $200 million, with fund allocation: 40% for core team expansion (cryptography experts), 35% for developer incentives, 25% for compliance reserves (including a $50 million legal fund). This shows a firm commitment to confronting regulators head-on.
Finally, let’s say something straightforward:
The privacy track used to either be anonymous to the point of regulatory shake-up (Monero) or transparent to the point that enterprises were afraid to use it (ordinary public chains). Midnight's approach is called 'selective disclosure'—using ZK proofs to allow institutions to prove compliance and validate assets without revealing sensitive data.
Now Worldpay, MoneyGram, Vodafone, and Google Cloud have all entered the scene. This is not a PPT collaboration; it’s a real push for the mainnet. 6 million merchants, 37 trillion annual transaction volume, coverage in over 200 countries—behind these figures is the real demand from traditional finance for privacy DeFi.
In the institution-level DeFi space, Midnight has already taken the lead.#night $NIGHT