Midnight NIGHT Gains 86% as Private Contract Upgrade Nears
Midnight’s NIGHT token has gained 86% over the past week as the Cardano-linked privacy network advances toward a mainnet upgrade that is expected to enable private smart contracts.
Midnight Foundation CTO Sebastien Guillemot said the project’s planned v8 release will introduce private contracts on mainnet. He also outlined a subsequent v9 upgrade focused on composability, providing developers with a clearer view of the network’s upcoming technical roadmap.
NIGHT was trading at about $0.044 in the supplied market snapshot, up 17.66% over the previous 24 hours. The token’s latest advance followed a September 24 low of $0.022 and came alongside seven consecutive daily gains.
The token had reached approximately $0.048 during the rally before retreating below that level in the reported snapshot. An eighth positive session was developing, with Wednesday and Thursday showing particularly strong gains on the price chart.
The market figures show a significant difference in short-term performance, although they do not establish that Midnight’s planned upgrades were responsible for NIGHT’s gains.
Midnight Prepares for Private Smart Contracts
Guillemot first discussed the upcoming smart contract milestone on September 19, including the ability to create private custom tokens through the planned functionality.
The development progressed with Midnight’s release of Node 1.0.3 on September 26. Guillemot described that version as the final major technical release needed before smart contract deployment can be enabled on mainnet.
The v8 release and the later composability upgrade are being treated as separate stages of Midnight’s roadmap. This means developers can prepare their applications for composability before the additional functionality becomes available through v9.
Guillemot said developers can use v8 to prepare for composability and begin using the functionality once the subsequent upgrade is deployed. He also indicated that v9 could arrive within the year, although no specific deployment date was provided in the supplied information.
Midnight’s Roadmap Moves Toward Composability
Midnight also plans to release Node 1.0.4 on mainnet as part of its preparations for the accelerated technical roadmap.
The sequence outlined by Guillemot places the Node 1.0.4 update ahead of private contract deployment through v8, followed by the planned composability functionality in v9.
For NIGHT, the development milestones coincide with a sharp weekly price increase. However, the available information does not establish a direct causal link between the network upgrades and the token’s market performance.
The next reported milestones are the Node 1.0.4 mainnet update, the introduction of private contracts through v8, and the subsequent composability upgrade.
Writer: Marcus RenfieldCrypto Market Analyst & Onchain WriterMarcus Renfield covers cryptocurrency markets with a focus on onchain data, Bitcoin price action, and emerging market narratives. His writing examines how capital flows, network activity, and broader market structure influence short- and medium-term trends.He aims to provide clear, data-informed analysis for readers seeking a deeper understanding of crypto market dynamics.