In a surprising end-of-year surge, Midnight’s native token, NIGHT, has taken center stage in the Cardano ecosystem, becoming the most traded token across both centralized and decentralized exchanges. With a 24-hour trading volume exceeding $1.95 billion on centralized exchanges and over $1 million across leading Cardano DEXs, NIGHT is now the undisputed liquidity magnet on the network. NIGHT Leads a Cardano DeFi Resurgence The Cardano community has long been waiting for a DeFi revival, and it seems Midnight is finally delivering the spark. NIGHT, a token tied to the Midnight privacy-focused sidechain, has quickly gained attention for its utility, strong market presence, and network-wide activity. Over the past week, NIGHT’s price climbed by more than 29%, currently sitting at $0.0645. With a circulating supply of 16.6 billion NIGHT and a market cap just over $1.07 billion, the token is now among the top assets in the broader crypto space — not just within Cardano. But it’s not just about price. NIGHT’s volume dominance is striking. On Cardano’s top decentralized exchanges like Minswap, SundaeSwap, and WingRiders, NIGHT consistently leads in liquidity and transaction count. Minswap alone saw over $1.1 million in ADA/NIGHT trades, with SundaeSwap and WingRiders also handling hundreds of thousands in volume. These figures are significant given that Cardano DEXs have historically struggled with thin liquidity and limited token traction. Now, thanks to NIGHT, activity is spiking, and DeFi is finally seeing the kind of movement early adopters hoped for. Other Tokens Struggle to Keep Up However, this rapid rise hasn’t come without tradeoffs. NIGHT’s dominance has also cast a shadow on other tokens in the ecosystem. Tokens like SNEK, once a popular memecoin on Cardano, are seeing relatively modest volumes. In the past 24 hours, SNEK registered only $270,000 in volume — a fraction compared to NIGHT’s over $3 million when combining CEX and DEX figures. Even newer tools and DeFi projects like STRIKE and SURGE, while still active, are finding it hard to compete with the sheer velocity of NIGHT’s adoption. Their volumes remain under $200,000, which may suggest that traders are concentrating liquidity and attention on a single project for now. What’s Driving the NIGHT Momentum? The current enthusiasm around NIGHT is partly due to its dual presence on both CEXs and DEXs, a rarity in the Cardano ecosystem. While many tokens remain DEX-bound, NIGHT has broken that mold, achieving high-volume listings on major centralized platforms. This broader accessibility has increased investor confidence and provided the kind of liquidity most Cardano tokens can only aspire to. Moreover, Midnight’s privacy-focused narrative adds a layer of appeal. As global discussions around digital privacy intensify, protocols like Midnight offer a compelling use case. While the technical framework of the sidechain is still evolving, the market clearly sees potential — and it's voting with its capital. A Glimpse Into Cardano’s DeFi Future? The surge in NIGHT trading volume suggests more than just short-term hype. It shows that Cardano DeFi is capable of handling meaningful liquidity, provided the right tokenomics and user demand are in place. Midnight’s impact has created a ripple effect, increasing total DEX usage and putting Cardano back in the DeFi conversation. Still, it’s worth watching whether this momentum will be sustained — and whether other projects can ride the wave or will be drowned out by NIGHT’s dominance. In a landscape often criticized for being too quiet, Midnight has broken the silence, and the Cardano community is taking notice.
