The Midnight Network Tokenomics Paper is published, detailing the economic model that will underpin the Midnight Network—the privacy enhancing, zero knowledge smart contract blockchain—and introducing Glacier Drop, the multi-phase airdrop that initially allocates 100% of $NIGHT tokens to users across eight major blockchain ecosystems namely Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Solana, Binance Chain, Brave, Ripple, and Avalanche.
Published by the Midnight TGE, the paper introduces the $NIGHT token distribution framework, Glacier Drop, an entirely novel model for airdrops, from the claim period design through to the redemption mechanism. The $NIGHT token distribution framework – Glacier Drop – consists of three phases, beginning in July:
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Claim phase (60 days): 100% of tokens are allocated and available to eligible participants who hold a minimum balance in native tokens on one or more of the eight named networks (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Binance Chain, Brave, Solana, Ripple and Avalanche).
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Scavenger Mine phase (30 days): Broadens participation by allowing anyone to contribute to Midnight’s launch by completing computational tasks, regardless of whether they were allocated $NIGHT in the Claim phase. 100% of the unclaimed tokens are available for scavenging through “Proof of Work” operations of the participants.
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Lost-and-Found phase (four years): After mainnet launch, original eligible wallets that missed the claim window can reclaim a portion of their allocation using self-directed methods.
The distribution of the tokens following the claim, known as the “Redemption Period”, prevents supply shock by unlocking (or “thawing”) tokens in four installments, each of which takes place at a random date within a 360-day window. This thawing mechanism is designed to reduce volatility and incentivize long-term network participation.
“A significant obstacle to mainstream adoption of blockchain technology is actually one of its core features: persistent transparency, which exposes sensitive user and business data, making it impossible to meet the privacy standards required by regulators and expected by individuals”, said Fahmi Syed, President of the Midnight Foundation. “Midnight solves this problem with privacy enabling programmable smart contracts—a breakthrough that lets developers choose what information is shared and with whom, without placing sensitive data on-chain. The result is rational privacy: an approach that enables the utility, compliance and security standards needed for real-world adoption.”
“Further, the distribution of $NIGHT represents to airdrops what Midnight represents to rational privacy: a unique, thoughtful and fair approach to a difficult and complex task,” added Fahmi Syed. “The airdrop landscape is in some ways biased to large centralized actors, just as individual and corporate privacy is in the digital era. Midnight, with this Glacier Drop as a starting point, is tackling those issues in a way that is necessary for the industry’s evolution.”
Eligibility for the Glacier Drop is determined in advance via a snapshot. Wallets that held at least $100 USD worth of an eligible network’s native token at the time of the snapshot will qualify. The Glacier Drop snapshot has already taken place and qualifying wallets have already been recorded. This requirement is designed to deter airdrop farming and Sybil attacks, ensuring the drop rewards genuine users of each ecosystem.
The release of the tokenomics paper follows the recent launch of the Midnight Foundation, a Cayman-based foundation, which is committed to supporting the growth and stewardship of the Midnight blockchain ecosystem.