Recently, when I was looking through that messy codebase, I always had the illusion that the current privacy track has split into two extremes: one side, like Aleo, is crazily obsessed with algorithm performance and hardware redundancy, hoping that every miner will be equipped with top-notch graphics cards to run those heavy proofs; the other side, like Midnight, is trying to stuff obscure ZK circuits into a TypeScript-like development framework, attempting to make it easy for developers who don’t even understand cryptography to get started without pain. Many people think this kind of 'highly encapsulated' approach is not hardcore enough, but in my eyes, what allows traditional capital to enter on a large scale has never been profound mathematical problems, but rather smooth engineering implementations.
If you, like me, have been tormented by that interaction-harsh, temperamental Lace wallet on the testnet a few times, you will likely want to flip the table. But when you calm down and run through the 'selective disclosure' logic behind it, you will understand why those institutions that are extremely sensitive to compliance are interested in this scheme. Compared to those protocols that pursue absolute anonymity and can easily fall into lawlessness, Midnight's approach, which allows companies to protect business secrets while leaving a compliance backdoor for regulators, is the realistic path for the RWA track to survive. $SOL
I have also reviewed Aztec, which has been tugging back and forth on Ethereum L2, and their biggest pain point lies in expensive Gas fees and fragmented liquidity. In contrast, Midnight, as an independent L1, has a somewhat unconventional 'self-charging' model in its underlying design, and the logic of generating fuel by holding tokens directly addresses the old players' aversion to capital erosion. The window for mainnet launch is right in front of us; don't be misled by those flashy airdrop narratives; this is essentially a logical game about whether 'compliance privacy' can land in the real world. I will keep it under observation, but not out of sentiment, but because it is indeed trying to solve that compliance paradox that everyone finds troublesome.
