Midnight (NIGHT) Airdrop by Cardano: How the Glacier Drop Worked and Why It Mattered

The Midnight (NIGHT) airdrop wasn’t just another token giveaway. It was one of the most carefully designed, cross-chain distribution events in cryptocurrency history - and it’s already over. Launched in August 2025 as the "Glacier Drop," this airdrop distributed 24 billion NIGHT tokens to over 34 million wallet addresses across eight blockchains. If you held even $100 worth of Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Cardano on June 11, 2025, you were eligible. But here’s the catch: you had to claim it yourself, using a Cardano wallet, and you only had 60 days to do it. The deadline passed on October 4, 2025. If you missed it, you missed the biggest chance to get involved.

Who Got Eligible and How

The Glacier Drop didn’t care if you were a whale or a beginner. It only cared about one thing: how much native cryptocurrency you held on a single day. On June 11, 2025, at an undisclosed time, the Midnight team took a snapshot of wallets on eight blockchains: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Solana, Avalanche, BNB Chain, Brave (BAT), and Cardano. If your wallet had at least $100 worth of any of those assets at that moment, you qualified. No social media posts. No Discord roles. No surveys. Just pure on-chain ownership.

The distribution wasn’t equal. Cardano holders got half of all NIGHT tokens - 12 billion. Bitcoin holders got 20%, or 4.8 billion. The remaining 30% was split among the other five chains based on how much total value was held on each. That meant if you held $500 in Ethereum and $200 in Bitcoin, you’d get a share of both allocations. You could claim from multiple chains if you qualified on more than one.

But not everyone got in. Exchanges like Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken were excluded unless they chose to claim on behalf of users - and almost none did. That’s because the claim process required you to prove you controlled your private keys. You couldn’t just log into your exchange account. You had to connect a self-custody wallet. If your crypto was sitting on an exchange, you were out of luck unless you moved it out before the snapshot.

The Claiming Process: Two Proofs, One Wallet

Claiming NIGHT wasn’t a one-click button. It was a two-step cryptographic process designed to stop bots and ensure real people got the tokens. First, you had to sign a message using your wallet - not to send funds, but to prove you owned the wallet that was snapshot. Second, you had to provide a brand-new Cardano wallet address to receive the tokens. That address had to be unused before. You couldn’t use an old one you’d already used for other transactions.

This design had a big effect: it forced people to set up a Cardano wallet. Even if you only held Bitcoin or Ethereum, you still needed to interact with Cardano to claim. That meant downloading a wallet like Eternl, Lace, or Yoroi, learning how to generate a new address, and understanding how to sign messages. For many, this was the hardest part. Videos from community members became essential guides. One popular YouTube tutorial walked users through every step - from checking eligibility to finalizing the claim - and got millions of views.

The claim portal, available at midnight.gd and midnight.network, supported wallets from all eight chains. You could connect your MetaMask for Ethereum, Phantom for Solana, or Trust Wallet for BNB Chain. But no matter which chain you came from, the tokens always ended up on a Cardano address. That’s because Midnight is built as a privacy sidechain on Cardano. The tokens weren’t going to live anywhere else.

Why the Vesting Schedule Was a Game-Changer

Most airdrops hand out tokens and let you sell them immediately. That leads to massive dumps, crashing the price and leaving the project with no real users. Midnight flipped that script. Claimed NIGHT tokens didn’t unlock all at once. They were locked in a Cardano smart contract and released in four equal parts over 360 days - one quarter every 90 days. And here’s the twist: the unlock dates weren’t fixed. They were randomized after mainnet launch.

This "gradual thawing" system was meant to stop coordinated selling. If everyone knew the exact day their tokens would unlock, they could plan a mass sell-off. But with random timing, no one could predict when their portion would become tradable. That forced holders to stay engaged. If you wanted to sell, you couldn’t just wait for a date. You had to watch, wait, and hope your unlock came first.

Plus, the tokens weren’t just for trading. They were meant to be used. NIGHT powers the Midnight network. You need it to participate in governance, run privacy nodes, and support applications built on the platform. The project didn’t want speculators. It wanted builders. The vesting schedule was a tool to turn airdrop recipients into long-term participants.

The Three-Phase Distribution: It’s Not Over Yet

The Glacier Drop was just Phase One. The 24 billion tokens weren’t all claimed. Millions of eligible wallets didn’t complete the process. So what happened to the unclaimed tokens? They didn’t vanish. They didn’t go to the team. They went into Phase Two: the Scavenger Mine.

In the Scavenger Mine, users solve public-good computational puzzles - tasks that help build the Midnight network’s infrastructure. Think of it like mining, but instead of using electricity to secure a blockchain, you’re using your computer to help test and improve privacy protocols. Solve the puzzles, and you earn a share of the leftover NIGHT tokens.

Then comes Phase Three: Lost-and-Found. After mainnet launches, anyone who missed both earlier phases can still claim tokens - but only if they actively contribute to the network. This could mean running a node, submitting code, or helping with community testing. The entire 24 billion supply will eventually be distributed, but only to people who do something useful for the network.

This structure is rare. Most airdrops are one-time events. Midnight turned its distribution into a multi-year engagement engine. It’s not about giving away free tokens - it’s about building a community that cares enough to earn them.

Why Midnight Matters

Midnight isn’t just another privacy coin. It’s trying to solve a real problem: you can’t have both utility and privacy on traditional blockchains. Bitcoin is transparent. Zcash is private but hard to use. Midnight says you shouldn’t have to choose. It uses advanced cryptography to let you hide transaction details while still being compliant with regulations. It’s called "rational privacy" - privacy that works with the real world, not against it.

The Glacier Drop was its first major step. By targeting eight blockchains, Midnight reached users outside the Cardano bubble. By requiring self-custody, it avoided centralization. By locking tokens for 360 days, it discouraged speculation. And by creating three phases of distribution, it turned a simple airdrop into a long-term participation system.

Whether it works depends on what happens next. Mainnet launch, developer adoption, and real-world usage will determine if NIGHT becomes a key part of crypto’s privacy future. But one thing is clear: this wasn’t a marketing stunt. It was a blueprint for how to distribute tokens without creating a sell-off disaster.

What Happens Now?

The Glacier Drop is closed. The claim window is gone. If you didn’t claim by October 4, 2025, you lost your chance to get tokens from that phase. But you’re not out of the game.

Start now: learn about the Scavenger Mine. Visit the Midnight documentation. Set up a Cardano wallet. Join the community. The next opportunity to earn NIGHT is tied to actual work - not passive holding. If you’re serious about privacy in blockchain, this is your chance to get involved before mainnet goes live.

The tokens are still out there. The network is still being built. And if you’re willing to put in the effort, you can still be part of it.