In the latest Cardano news,Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson claimed on X that the new Midnight token, NIGHT, traded more than XRP and Solana combined in 24 hours after trading volume reached around $4 billion. NIGHT started trading around $0.0738 with a market cap of approximately $1.2 billion, putting it in the top 60 coins by size but near the top 10 by trading activity. This surge plays into a larger 2025 story in which retail investors, oppressed by institutional investors, are finding new interest in privacy coins and cross-chain bridges. Now, the question is: Is Cardano still a “ghost chain” or is it quietly awakening?
And that last part is important, as long-suffering ADA holders have spent years being criticized for their bag’s price performance – perhaps never more so than when everyone saw the hatred for ADA during the meme coin mania of winter 2024. Getting past the inevitable self-loathing, they may finally be able to show something for it. After all, calling Cardano a “ghost chain” is becoming problematic, even though Cardano’s sidechain has a trading volume of $6 billion. Difficult to justify. But as a trader, you have to ask, is this sustainable liquidity or just a highly efficient wash trading engine backed by airdrop farmers?
What is night? Why are traders suddenly obsessed with night?
NIGHT is the native token of Midnight, Cardano’s new privacy-focused network that sits alongside the main network. Cardano (ADA) initiatives led by Charles Hoskinson. Think of Midnight as a side room of Cardano’s main hall where people can trade and use the app without revealing all their details to the world. NIGHT launched on December 8th after months of hype and was quickly listed on major exchanges including Binance, Bybit, Kraken, and OKX.
Gamza Khanzadaev, writing U.Today explained that NIGHT has risen to the top 10 coins by trading volume, with trading volume sometimes exceeding three times its market capitalization, despite its much smaller size.. To put it simply, traders flipped their tokens over and over again like some hot new meme coin. This activity allowed Hoskinson to boast that Cardano tokens have outperformed both XRP and Solana. XRP and Solana typically sit near the top of the volume charts and even have their own futures products on CME. XRP and Solana futures.
Midnight utilizes a “thaw” system for token distribution, with allocations unlocked in stages over approximately 450 days. This setup allows users to keep coming back to claim and redeem new chunks of NIGHT, rather than receiving it all on the first day. The project has spread its airdrop across eight chains, including Cardano, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP, so you’ll see overnight trading across several large networks, not just Cardano.
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How can NIGHT’s volume surge change the story of Cardano and altcoins?
Critics have long referred to Cardano as a “ghost chain.” The reason is that there are fewer active apps and fewer funds locked up in DeFi compared to rivals like Solana. According to TradingView CoverageHoskinson sees NIGHT’s volume as evidence that traders remain focused on Cardano’s technology and that the chain can quickly attract liquidity as it launches new features. If a new token briefly outperforms giant tokens like XRP or SOL, you can see where the short-term speculation is going.
However, volume alone does not provide lasting value. XRP and Solana have a long history, live applications, and a large community, which we covered in this discussion. Solana’s growing mindshare and in our report XRP price fluctuation. NIGHT is still only around No. 54 in terms of market capitalization, so much of its $4 billion in daily trading volume comes from fast-moving traders, rather than long-term holders built on the network.
The bigger story is inside. Midnight aims to provide “regulation-friendly” privacy using zero-knowledge proofs and a dual-ledger system that separates public and private data. Think of it like having a public bank statement for things that regulators need to see, and a personal note for everything else. According to Interview from CoinDeskthe team wants to support private prediction markets, stablecoins, and decentralized exchanges to allow traders to place large bets without revealing their identity or position size to the crowd, while still being fully informed to auditors.
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Is NIGHT just hype or a real opportunity for retail investors?
While this kind of turbocharged volume is exciting, it also comes with significant risks for the average buyer. When a token’s daily volume is several times its total market capitalization, it behaves more like a casino chip than a slow and steady investment. Prices can fluctuate by 30-50% in a short period of time, especially in the early stages of the distribution schedule when new tokens continue to be unlocked.
Furthermore, Midnight’s main privacy smart contract is not yet live. The team aims to deliver full functionality in Q1 2026, but most of the talk so far is speculation about the future. Cardano has experienced similar waves before, with ADA volume surging in 2025, but subsided as traders took profits. cardano feed. There is no guarantee that Midnight’s volume or user attention will be maintained after the excitement of the airdrop wears off.
If you want to touch on this subject, treat NIGHT like a high-risk altcoin rather than a savings account. Never use your rent or emergency funds. The size is small, volatility is expected to be high, and the main portfolio will be concentrated in more established assets such as BTC and large-cap stocks. Rather than chasing early-cycle FOMO, for most beginners, it’s better to watch how the actual app and total value locked in Midnight evolves over the next 12-18 months.
Privacy and cross-chain tools will continue to be hot topics as regulators tighten regulations and more value flows between chains. Whether NIGHT becomes a permanent player or just a trade story in 2025 will depend on what is built on Midnight once the hype wears off.
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