Midnight (NIGHT) Airdrop by Cardano: Complete Details on the Glacier Drop, Eligibility, and Claim Process

Ben Bevan 22 December 2025 15 Comments

The Midnight (NIGHT) airdrop was one of the most ambitious token distributions in 2025-not because it gave away millions of dollars in free crypto, but because it redefined what an airdrop could be. Instead of just handing out tokens to attract hype, Midnight Network, a privacy-focused sidechain built on Cardano, designed a three-phase system to build real, lasting community participation. This wasn’t a quick cash grab. It was a long-term infrastructure project disguised as a giveaway.

What Was the Glacier Drop?

The Glacier Drop was the first phase of Midnight’s 24 billion NIGHT token distribution. It launched on August 6, 2025, and ran for 60 days, closing on October 4, 2025. The goal? To give tokens to real people who already held crypto across eight major blockchains-not just Cardano holders, but Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, BNB Chain, Avalanche, XRP, Brave BAT, and Cardano ADA users too.

The snapshot that determined eligibility happened on June 11, 2025. If your wallet held at least $100 worth of any native asset on those chains at that exact moment, you qualified. That’s it. No social media posts. No surveys. No asking you to follow a Twitter account. Just pure, on-chain ownership.

The distribution wasn’t even. Cardano holders got 50% of all NIGHT tokens-12 billion-because Midnight is a Cardano sidechain. Bitcoin holders got 20%, or 4.8 billion. The other 30% was split among Ethereum, Solana, XRP, Avalanche, BNB Chain, and BAT holders based on how much they held at snapshot time.

Who Could Claim?

You didn’t need to be a crypto expert, but you did need self-custody. If your crypto was sitting on Binance, Coinbase, or Kraken, you were out of luck-unless your exchange decided to claim for you. And none of the big exchanges did. That’s because claiming requires signing cryptographic messages with your private keys. Exchanges don’t give users access to those.

So only people who held their own crypto in wallets like Eternl, Lace, Yoroi, MetaMask, or Trust Wallet were eligible. That meant real users-people who cared enough to manage their own keys-not just speculators buying on apps.

The $100 minimum threshold wasn’t arbitrary. It kept out bot accounts and dust wallets. If you held $100 in Bitcoin, you needed about 0.002 BTC. If you held ADA, you needed around 40 ADA at June 11’s price. The system didn’t care which chain you were on-it cared how much value you held.

How Did You Claim?

Claiming wasn’t a one-click process. You had to do two things:

Sign a message proving you owned your wallet without moving any funds.
Provide a brand-new, unused Cardano wallet address to receive your NIGHT tokens.

Why a new Cardano address? Because Midnight is built on Cardano. Even if you held Bitcoin, your tokens had to land on a Cardano wallet. That meant if you didn’t already have a Cardano wallet, you had to set one up. For many, that was the biggest hurdle.

The claim portal was at midnight.gd or midnight.network. You could connect your Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Solana wallet to verify eligibility, but the tokens always went to your Cardano wallet. The system checked your wallet’s state on June 11, confirmed you controlled it, then locked your NIGHT tokens in a Cardano smart contract.

Mechanical clockwork device showing three phases of NIGHT token distribution with randomized unlocking gears.

The Vesting Schedule: No Immediate Cash-Out

Here’s where Midnight broke the mold. Most airdrops dump tokens on you the moment you claim. You sell half right away. The price crashes. The project dies.

Midnight didn’t do that. All claimed NIGHT tokens were locked in a smart contract. They unlocked in four equal parts over 360 days. That’s 25% every 90 days. But here’s the twist: the unlock dates were randomized. You didn’t know exactly when your next 25% would release. It could be day 87, day 93, or day 99. That stopped people from coordinating mass sells.

This was called “gradual thawing.” The idea? If you’re going to hold NIGHT, you’re not just holding a speculative asset-you’re helping build a privacy network. The longer you hold, the more you’re invested in its success.

What Happened to Unclaimed Tokens?

About 34 million addresses were eligible. But not everyone claimed. Some didn’t know. Some couldn’t figure out the wallet setup. Some missed the deadline.

Those unclaimed tokens didn’t vanish. They didn’t go to the team. They didn’t get sold off. They rolled into Phase Two: the Scavenger Mine.

The Scavenger Mine lets people earn leftover NIGHT tokens by solving public computational puzzles. These aren’t just games-they’re useful work that helps test and strengthen Midnight’s privacy protocols. It’s like mining, but instead of using electricity, you use brainpower and time to contribute to the network.

If any tokens remain after that, they go to Phase Three: Lost-and-Found. That’s a final chance after mainnet launch for anyone who missed the first two phases.

This three-phase system ensures that every single one of the 24 billion NIGHT tokens eventually reaches someone who actively participates-not just someone who happened to hold crypto on a random day.

Futuristic claim interface with Cardano wallet input and melting ice sculpture visualizing 360-day token vesting.

Why This Airdrop Was Different

Most airdrops are marketing tools. Midnight’s was a technical experiment.

- It targeted eight blockchains at once, which is almost unheard of.

- It used dollar-value thresholds instead of arbitrary point systems.

- It excluded centralized exchanges to enforce decentralization.

- It locked tokens for a year to prevent dumping.

- It turned leftover tokens into community-driven infrastructure work.

It also didn’t ignore regulation. Every address was checked against the OFAC sanctions list. If you were blocked, you got nothing. No appeals. No loopholes. That’s rare in crypto.

What’s Next for Midnight?

The mainnet hasn’t launched yet. That’s the next big milestone. The 360-day vesting clock doesn’t start until mainnet goes live. So even if you claimed your tokens before October 4, you still can’t trade them.

The testnet is live and running. Developers are building apps on it. The project’s whitepaper talks about DUST-the network’s transaction fee token-and how it works alongside NIGHT. NIGHT is for governance and utility. DUST pays for privacy transactions.

The real test won’t be how many people claimed. It’ll be how many stick around after the tokens unlock. Will they run nodes? Will they vote on upgrades? Will they build apps that use privacy without sacrificing usability?

If they do, Midnight could become the first blockchain to prove that privacy and compliance can coexist-not as opposites, but as design choices.

Can You Still Get NIGHT Tokens?

The Glacier Drop is over. The 60-day claim window closed on October 4, 2025. If you didn’t claim by then, you missed your chance to get tokens through the initial airdrop.

But you’re not out of options.

You can still join the Scavenger Mine. The project is actively inviting participants to solve puzzles and earn leftover NIGHT tokens. No wallet? You’ll need a Cardano wallet. No experience? There are guides on the Midnight website and YouTube tutorials from early participants.

The Lost-and-Found phase will come after mainnet launch. That’s your last shot if you’re not ready yet.

The bottom line? Midnight didn’t just give away tokens. It gave away opportunity-and it’s still giving it out, just in a different way.