The Midnight Foundation has added Blockdaemon and Shielded Technologies as federated node operators for the Midnight Network, expanding its early operator set to four as the project prepares for mainnet.
The two join Google Cloud and AlphaTON Capital, which Midnight has already named as launch partners supporting the network’s initial infrastructure layer.
This is part of Midnight’s ‘rational privacy’ approach, using zero-knowledge systems and selective disclosure. It’s increasingly a prerequisite for regulated on-chain markets, where participants need verifiability and auditability without putting sensitive data on a public ledger.
Mainnet is scheduled to go live at the end of March 2026, with the network expected to move beyond the federated model later in 2026.
Federated Node Operators Explained
According to the Midnight Foundation, mainnet will start with a small set of federated node operators – separate organizations that collectively operate the protocol under explicit rules for participation and coordination. The Foundation frames this as a launch-stage structure designed to prioritize operational stability, then transition toward a more decentralized setup over time.
In practice, these operators are responsible for running the core node software that enforces protocol rules and maintains the network’s peer-to-peer layer. Midnight’s own documentation describes the node as the infrastructure component that implements protocol logic and manages networking, with the broader architecture intended to support both permissioned and trustless participation.
Midnight also notes that operators are already present on its pre-production network, and that bringing them into mainnet is meant to provide an enterprise-grade foundation for early live applications while the decentralization roadmap continues through 2026.
Why Is This Important for Institutions?
Public blockchains make activity legible by default, and that can spill sensitive details like counterparties, positions, pricing logic, and client identifiers into an immutable record that anyone can analyze.
This is where zero-knowledge systems step in. A zero-knowledge proof lets one party prove a statement is valid without revealing the underlying information. In short, ‘prove what’s necessary, keep the rest private.’
This is how Midnight offers selective disclosure, revealing only specific attributes when needed (for example, eligibility checks) while keeping other data confidential. It’s an approach designed to hold up in environments with legal and operational disclosure requirements.
Midnight describes this as ‘rational privacy,’ meaning privacy that’s contextual rather than absolute. Under the hood, it’s built around zero-knowledge smart contracts, with a public governance token (NIGHT) and a shielded resource (DUST) used for execution.
What Each Launch Operator Brings
- Blockdaemon sells node and staking infrastructure to large clients, and markets itself as securing more than $110 billion in digital assets for 400+ institutions. Midnight is framing Blockdaemon’s node as a way to give banks, custodians, and funds a privacy-capable network they can operate and monitor using familiar operational standards.
- Shielded Technologies describes itself as an Input Output (IO) spinout and Midnight’s core technology partner, meaning it’s already deep in the cryptography and engineering that underpins Midnight’s privacy model. Operating a federated node is effectively Shielded taking on production responsibility for the infrastructure it’s been helping to design.
- Google Cloud is positioned more as a security and reliability partner. Midnight says Google Cloud’s Mandiant unit will support threat monitoring and incident response, and that Midnight’s ZK stack will leverage Google Cloud Confidential Computing to protect sensitive data while it’s being processed.
- AlphaTON Capital adds distribution and Telegram-adjacent reach. AlphaTON is listed on Nasdaq (ATON), and the company has publicly said Midnight engaged it to provide one of the founding nodes and develop software integrating Midnight’s privacy layer with Telegram and the TON ecosystem.
What Comes Next?
Midnight has now put a clear clock on its rollout. On February 17, 2026, the Midnight Foundation announced Blockdaemon and Shielded Technologies as federated node operators, expanding the named launch roster to four alongside Google Cloud and AlphaTON Capital.
A February 18 recap tied that operator buildout directly to launch sequencing, reiterating that Midnight mainnet will go live at the end of March 2026 as part of its Kūkolu ‘federated mainnet’ phase.
In the run-up, Midnight says it will publish additional technical readiness updates and further details on node partners in the weeks before genesis. For context on scope, AlphaTON’s node agreement disclosures describe the launch set as one of ten founding Midnight nodes, implying more operators are still to be named. After launch, the Foundation has described the federated model as a bridge toward community-driven block production later in 2026.
A Market Signal
The growing operator roster is a sign Midnight is prioritizing institutional-grade reliability at launch. Midnight has described mainnet as starting with federated node operators that run the protocol under explicit participation rules, with a stated intent to transition away from that structure over time.
Of course, privacy that can survive compliance scrutiny depends as much on accountable infrastructure as it does on cryptography and selective disclosure.
Watch out for more operator additions, the promised technical readiness updates ahead of the end-of-March 2026 mainnet launch, and the first real deployments.
Source: https://beincrypto.com/midnight-adds-blockdaemon-shielded/
