Cardano Founder Welcomes as OpenZeppelin Unveils Compact Contracts for Midnight

Cardano founder reacts as OpenZeppelin, a top name in blockchain security and smart contracts, rolls out its first set of Compact Contracts for Midnight. In a post on X, the OpenZeppelin team announced that these contracts are now open for public testing. They introduced building blocks for private smart contracts on Midnight, including tools for creating fungible tokens and NFTs. OpenZeppelin is also linked to the official GitHub repository for developers to explore the code. The GitHub repo, called "compact-contracts," breaks down the early-stage project. Specifically, OpenZeppelin is building a smart contract library using Compact, a programming language created for Midnight.  Details of the Midnight Compact Contracts from OpenZeppelin  These contracts aim to bring secure, privacy-first tools to a blockchain platform built for confidentiality. The goal is to help developers easily create private decentralized apps that fit Midnight's privacy standards. Notably, OpenZeppelin clarified that the code is experimental. They opened it for testing but warned developers not to use it in real-world projects yet. Moreover, the team urged anyone who finds issues to report them directly to them. Importantly, the repo includes smart contract modules like "FungibleToken." It also features helper tools like Initializable and Pausable, which let developers set up contracts or temporarily stop them when needed. Developers can also test the system using mock contracts provided in the repo. To work with the code, developers need to install Node.js, yarn, turbo, and the Compact compiler. Notably, the project is still in its early days. So far, three contributors have worked on it, and most of the code is written in TypeScript. Additionally, OpenZeppelin hasn't yet released an official package, but the team has opened the repository to gather feedback and encourage community involvement. Responding to OpenZeppelin's X post, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson welcomed the team to the Midnight ecosystem. His message showed support for the collaboration and indicated how important this step is for the privacy sidechain's growth. https://twitter.com/IOHK_Charles/status/1943304323066106090 Midnight Gradually Pushing Toward Mainnet Launch Midnight itself has seen multiple recent developments. For instance, on June 11, 2025, the team took a snapshot for the Glacier Drop airdrop. Notably, anyone holding at least $100 in crypto across supported blockchains, including Cardano, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others, became eligible to claim NIGHT tokens.  The airdrop kicked off in July and will run for 60 days. Half of the tokens go to Cardano users, while the rest are split between holders of other major coins. Any unclaimed tokens will move to a system called the "Scavenger Mine," which lets users earn them through computational mining. Meanwhile, the Midnight ecosystem continues to expand. On July 8, the ecosystem added Bodega Market, a new privacy-preserving prediction market that rivals Polymarket. The Midnight mainnet will go live later this year, around 90 days after the airdrop began. The network's native token, NIGHT, powers everything. Holding it earns users DUST, a private resource that covers transaction fees without exposing account activity. DUST burns after use and doesn't change hands, which helps stabilize fees and protect user privacy.