The company behind the Cardano blockchain, Input Output Global (IOG), is planning on releasing a new privacy-focused blockchain called Midnight with a native token, Dust.
Midnight to Be a Sidechain on Cardano and Have Smart Contracts
Midnight will be built using zero-knowledge-proof technology and will be a sidechain of the Cardano network.
According to Cardano’s founder, Charles Hoskinson, the privacy-centred blockchain will go beyond other privacy projects by delivering smart contracts. Its core goal will be preserving privacy and allowing regulators and auditors a backdoor to the system when a situation that needs such crucial access arises.
Cardano’s Mr Hoskinson explained:
Midnight has evolved privacy-coin technology where everything was anonymous by default, which is what Zcash and Monero did with Snarks and ring signatures.
This is a completely new way of writing and running private smart contracts and private computation. So you can have a private DEX (decentralized exchange) or go mine an anonymous data set or these types of things.
Privacy on the Blockchain Needs Programmability
He added:
You need programmability; you can’t just take Zcash and fork it, and somehow it’ll work. What was needed was the ability to write this stuff in a normal programming language, not some weird Snark thing, but JavaScript or something like that, something developers can understand and get a guarantee you have privacy.
This is what the enterprise absolutely wants, and we have seen Walmart and some of the largest companies in the world working on privacy with Hyperledger. At the same time, we can service traditional cryptocurrency needs, especially when you look at DEXs that want to prevent front-running and these types of things.
Emurgo to Launch the USDA Stablecoin on Cardano in Q1 2023
In addition, Emurgo, the commercial arm and founding entity of Cardano, announced Friday that it was planning on launching a fully backed and regulated stablecoin, USDA, in the first quarter of 2023.
The stablecoin will be redeemable at a one-to-one ratio with the US dollar. Once launched, users will have a chance to exchange their USD to USDA through credit and debit cards, wire transfers, ACH or direct conversion with ADA. Swaps with popular stablecoins, such as USDT and USDC, alongside those of Bitcoin, Ethereum and other popular cryptocurrencies, will also be available after USDA is launched.
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