Block producers are instead paid in newly circulating NIGHT that flows out of a Reserve using a “base distribution rate” calibrated to deliver an initial network inflation around three per cent per annum. Because the rate is applied to the shrinking Reserve balance, annual issuance decays along an exponential curve, meaning the reward pot lasts “in the order of hundreds of years.” A fixed subsidy guarantees that even empty blocks earn something, but a variable component tied to block fullness redirects otherwise-lost rewards to the on-chain Treasury, creating a carrot for maximum transaction inclusion.
The Glacier claim window will run for sixty days. Claimed tokens are locked in a Cardano smart contract and “gradually thaw” throughout a subsequent redemption period; the cadence of that unlock schedule has not yet been published, but Midnight emphasises that the mechanism is meant to blunt opportunistic dumping and encourage early participation in block production, governance and DUST-fuelled application building. Unclaimed NIGHT does not disappear: it rolls into phase two, the Scavenger Mine, where participants solve public-good computational puzzles for a share of the leftovers while simultaneously seeding core network infrastructure. Whatever survives that torrent becomes the bounty for phase three, Lost-and-Found, a final recovery chance after main-net launch.
Prospective claimants therefore have a concrete checklist. They must confirm that their balances are held in self-custody at the snapshot height, ensure the wallet remains unsanctioned, and prepare to sign a message once the NIGHT Claim Portal goes live. They must also create an unused Cardano address—a privacy best-practice given that Midnight will publish audit proofs for every redemption transaction on-chain. With those pieces in place, the only moving parts left are the opening block number of the claim portal and the publication of the exact thaw schedule, both of which the team says will appear on Midnight’s official website in “short order.”
At press time, ADA traded at $0.5817.
