Within the Cardano ecosystem, Midnight’s long-trailed token distribution has moved from promise to production. At 13:00 UTC on August 5, the Midnight Foundation opened the Glacier Drop claim portal, kicking off a 60-day window for eligible addresses across eight ecosystems to redeem NIGHT, the network’s native token.
“The first step toward rational privacy online begins now,” the foundation wrote in its launch note, adding that “nearly 34 million eligible addresses across eight blockchain ecosystems” can participate via the official portal at claim.midnight.gd. The claim window, it said, runs until 13:00 UTC on October 4.
Midnight’s launch post emphasizes that Glacier Drop is phase one of a three-stage distribution (to be followed by Scavenger Mine and a Lost-and-Found period). The foundation says eligibility was determined by a pre-announced snapshot across eight ecosystems, including Cardano, Bitcoin, XRP, Ethereum, Solana, BNB Chain, Avalanche, and BAT on Ethereum.
The foundation’s breakdown for the Glacier Drop phase allocates 12 billion NIGHT to Cardano addresses, 4.8 billion to Bitcoin, roughly 2.623 billion to XRPL, 2.3054 billion to Ethereum, 1.4291 billion to Solana, about 796.054 million to BNB Chain, 43.2753 million to Avalanche, and 3.1813 million to BAT on Ethereum. Midnight also underscores that the only claim URL is claim.midnight.gd and lists its verified X accounts to help users avoid impersonators.
The claim mechanism itself is deliberately simple and auditable. According to the foundation, participants complete two steps: first, “demonstrate custody” by cryptographically signing a message from the eligible address; second, provide a new, unused Cardano address to receive NIGHT. Midnight says detailed instructions, an eligibility checker, and a set of verified compatible wallets are accessible from the portal.
He said the team is deploying a temporary workaround “common in the NFT space” that signs a null transaction carrying the 251-byte payload as metadata, and stressed that “there is no difference redeeming today or a few weeks from now,” as the claim phase lasts two months. Third-party coverage and Midnight’s own updates echoed the 31-byte versus 251-byte mismatch and noted that Ledger has not yet provided a timeline for an update.
Midnight simultaneously warned users against improvising cryptographic proofs with opaque or hashed messages to “hack” around hardware-wallet limitations. “This method of claiming introduces a potential and significant security risk to the wallet owner,” the foundation said, pointing users to two explainers on signature-based attacks and blind-signing hazards. Those advisories show how a single, non-transparent signature can be enough to authorize malicious actions or expose keys.
The foundation’s guidance reduces to three imperatives. First, start at the official portal—“the only official URL for the claim portal is claim.midnight.gd”—and verify the handle of any X account you rely on for updates.
Second, follow the portal’s process to sign a human-verifiable message proving control of the eligible address and to submit a fresh Cardano destination address for NIGHT. Third, if you’re an ADA holder using Ledger, wait for the supported path to appear in the portal rather than attempting an unsupported signature flow. As Hoskinson put it to affected users: “If you are one of the impacted people, then come back towards the end of the month and try again. No one lost their night or place in line.”
Beyond token logistics, Midnight casts Glacier Drop as a test of Cardano’s scaling and programmability in production conditions. Hoskinson said the distribution “pushed the bounds of our ecosystem, its technology, and the perception of Cardano as a whole,” highlighting Hydra as the execution layer for intake before on-chain settlement. The foundation, for its part, positions NIGHT as the incentive layer for “rational privacy,” with the claim phase designed for breadth and verifiable inclusion across chains.
At press time, the Cardano (ADA) token traded at $0.72.
