Midnight in Crypto by John Greene, reviewed

By Selva Ozelli, Esq, CPA, Author of Sustainably Investing in Digital Assets Globally

John Green is a course writer and technical writer for the Cardano Foundation, who authored the book “Midnight in Crypto: Rational Privacy for the Digital Age” which was published and released to the market on April 6, 2026.  His book became available  a month after Layer-1 Midnight blockchain founded by Cardano’s Charles Hoskinson, its native $NIGHT token completed its launch event, and the mainnet subsequently went live in March 2026.

Midnight in Crypto by John Greene, reviewed

In his book, John explores the 5,000 year old history of money; the utilitarian, legal, technological developments that gave rise to capital markets and transformed value transfer in global trade; the rise of the centralized surveillance state with the advent of the internet (1991); the global credit crises (the 1998 LTCM collapse and the 2008 Great Recession)  which directly drove Bitcoin’s creation by exposing deep-seated systemic risks in centralized finance government bailouts;  the high-profile banking secrecy Swiss bank scandals, and subsequent global tax evasion crackdowns resulting in global transparency tax legislation (FATCA, CRS), exposing how traditional offshore banking secrecy  prompted cypherpunks and developers to create privacy coins (like Monero, Z Cash), which global regulators effectively restrict by banning their use on licensed platforms to comply with strict Anti-Money Laundering (AML) standards; and the limitations of early first and second generation blockchains.  John in his book argues that while Bitcoin successfully provided decentralized “hard money,” it’s completely transparent public ledger inadvertently created a perfect tool for government and corporate regulators to track user activity.

In his book John points out that Charles Hoskinson whose pioneering impact on crypto spans his role as a co-creator of  BitUSD, widely recognized as the world’s first stablecoin, alongside Dan Larimer in July 2014, issued on the pioneering BitShares,  early co-founder of Ethereum, the creator of Cardano as well as Midnight, shaped the industry’s focus on decentralized governance, formal mathematical verification, and regulatory compliance.

He defines the generational framework for blockchain evolution  in four generations:

1. Bitcoin as the first generation (decentralized value);
2. Ethereum which Hoskinson co-founded as the second generation offering programmability/smart contracts;
3. Cardano as the third generation, designed to solve the scaling, interoperability, and governance limitations of earlier blockchain networks. Its development relies on peer-reviewed research to build a highly decentralized, multi-layered architecture focused on mainstream adoption.

Cardano’s ADA token was one of five specific digital assets (alongside Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP) named by President Trump for inclusion in the proposed U.S. digital asset stockpile. This endorsement spurred temporary market rallies and brought significant mainstream attention to the Cardano blockchain’s utility and decentralized governance model.  Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson was initially surprised by the inclusion, stating it highlighted Cardano’s 10-year focus on robust technology, deflationary tokenomics, and decentralization. However, he later expressed critical views of the broader political maneuvers surrounding the reserve.

Hoskinson has argued that government creation of digital asset reserves blurs the lines between national policy and personal interest. He advocated for a Bitcoin-only reserve approach, asserting that government selection of specific altcoins essentially equates to “picking winners and losers,” which breaches the decentralized, merit-based ethos of the cryptocurrency industry; and finally

1. Midnight  as the “fourth generation” evolutionary leap needed for blockchain technology that solves the remaining hurdles of data privacy, regulatory compliance, and identity by allowing users to selectively prove facts without revealing sensitive personal data.

Instead of forcing a binary choice between total transparency (like Bitcoin) or total opacity (like traditional privacy coins Monero or Zcash), John in his book explains how 4th generation blockchain Midnight introduces rational privacy, utilizing Zero-Knowledge (ZK) proofs to let users and enterprises selectively disclose specific truths without revealing underlying data.

The model relies on several core pillars to balance regulation, compliance, and individual data sovereignty such as

• Selective Disclosure: You only reveal the exact information required (e.g., proving you are over 18 or verifying a compliant balance) without exposing your entire identity or total net worth.
• Hybrid Ledger Architecture: Smart contracts allow data to remain shielded by default, while precisely revealing what needs to be seen by counterparties, auditors, or regulators.
• Dual-Token System: The network separates utility from privacy. The primary token (NIGHT) is transparent and public to satisfy network security and institutions, while the resource token (DUST) is used to power shielded, confidential transactions.
• Mainstream Usability: It allows developers to build ZK decentralized applications (dApps) using Compact, a smart contract language based on TypeScript, making it easier to integrate privacy features.

How Midnight Connects to Cardano

Cardano and Midnight handle ecosystem economics through fundamentally different architectures. Cardano utilizes a single-asset model designed for overall base-layer security, while Midnight uses a dual-token model built to ensure predictable data-protection transaction costs and to separate network governance/security from operational transaction costs.

Cardano’s ADA operates a straightforward layer-1 economic model centered entirely on ADA.

Fee Settlement: Users pay transaction fees directly using ADA.

Deflationary Burn: ADA is an expendable asset consumed during gas fees, meaning transactions directly cost the user their token balance.

Consensus Role: Users secure the network by staking ADA to stake pools to participate in Proof-of-Stake consensus.

Midnight is developed by Cardano’s parent company Input Output Global (IOG), and officially launched its mainnet as a functional partner chain. Its architectural relationship with Cardano involves several core features:

Dual-State Ledger: It operates a public coordination layer alongside a shielded execution layer. This allows data to be verified without exposing sensitive personal info or proprietary business metadata.

Zero-Knowledge (ZK) Proofs: By using ZK-proofs, developers can build decentralized applications (DApps) that remain legally compliant with global regulations while safeguarding user identity.

The Glacier Drop: To deeply intertwine the ecosystems, Midnight initiated a massive token distribution called the Glacier Drop, where a major share of Midnight’s native NIGHT tokens were allocated specifically to Cardano ($ADA) holders.

It should be noted that John’s book Midnight in Crypto does not mention the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Revenue Ruling 2023-14, which generally taxes airdrops like the Midnight Glacier Drop [similar to staking income] and treats these token distributions  as ordinary income at their fair market value (FMV) on the date taxpayer gains control of the tokens.

Enterprise Onboarding: Because commercial enterprises require data protection to protect secrets, Midnight acts as a bridge for institutions like Google Cloud, MoneyGram, Worldpay, Vodafone’s Pairpoint, eToro,  Blockdaemon, Webisoft  and others to legally interact with public blockchain networks.

The differences between the two blockchain tokenomics dictate how users interact with network fees and asset supplies as follows:

Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act

John’s book  does not provide information on  the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act (CLARITY Act) which is still stalled in the US Senate ahead of the August recess due to disagreements over ethics provisions, illicit finance controls, and law enforcement powers.   The health problems of Mitch McConnell and the unexpected sudden passing of Senator Lindsey Graham last night  complicated the passage of the CLARITY Act  by narrowing the already compressed legislative window for crypto legislation passing before the August 7 recess, with current political and legislative analyst’s pricing the odds at roughly a 50-50 coin flip.

The CLARITY Act severely restricts privacy coins but  does not explicitly ban privacy blockchains or zero-knowledge protocols. Instead, it preserves the Treasury Department’s broad authority over anti-money laundering (AML) and requires all registered digital asset intermediaries to screen for illicit finance using blockchain intelligence tools  to implement strict anti-money laundering (AML), tracking, and disclosure standards.

According to Hoskinson Clarity Act’s passage would be disastrous for the U.S. crypto industry.  He  asserts that the current draft classifies all new projects as securities by default, acting as a “15-year trap” of rulemaking, and hands excessive control back to the Securities Exchange Commission “for me, it’s my career. Midnight is the last major blockchain project that I think I’m going to work on…because if it doesn’t succeed then I don’t really want to be in crypto anymore” explained Charles Hoskinson, co-founder BitShares, Ethereum, Cardano & Midnight.

You can purchase a digital copy of John’s  book Midnight in Crypto on Amazon.

About the Author:

Selva Ozelli Esq, CPA, is an international digital asset legal expert and author of Sustainably Investing in Digital Assets Globally.  Her writings are translated into 45 languages and republished in over 200 global publications.  She is recognized as an expert media/TV commentator on global digital asset regulation, tax, and technology matters.

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