Midnight Blockchain Wallet: The Complete Guide
A Midnight blockchain wallet is a non-custodial wallet that holds NIGHT, generates DUST, and signs shielded transactions on the Midnight network, the privacy chain built as a partner chain to Cardano. Since GeroWallet 2.7, you open one from the same Cardano wallet that already holds your ADA, and it runs on Midnight mainnet. This guide covers what the wallet has to do, which of the three Midnight assets does what, and the exact steps to get set up.
Updated October 2026 for GeroWallet 2.7.1. Midnight is an integrated partner chain. Gero did not build it and does not own it.
What a Midnight blockchain wallet is
Most wallets have one job: hold keys and sign transactions. A Midnight blockchain wallet has three more, because Midnight works differently from a public chain.
It holds NIGHT. NIGHT is Midnight's native token, and it is a public, unshielded asset. Holding it is what entitles you to generate DUST.
It generates and tracks DUST. DUST is the resource that pays for activity on Midnight. You cannot buy it on an exchange. It refills over time from the NIGHT you hold and have registered, which is why the wallet shows it as a battery rather than a balance.
It builds zero-knowledge proofs. A shielded Midnight transaction needs a proof that it is valid without revealing the amounts or the parties. Generating that proof takes real compute, so the wallet has to decide where that happens and how much of your data leaves your device while it does.
A normal Cardano wallet does none of this. That gap is the reason "Midnight wallet" exists as a category, and the reason the Midnight wallet page treats it as its own product surface inside GeroWallet.
NIGHT, cNIGHT and DUST, kept straight
The three names cause most of the confusion, so here is the short version. The longer treatment is in our guide to NIGHT, cNIGHT and DUST.
- NIGHT is the Midnight network's own token. It lives on Midnight and is public.
- cNIGHT is NIGHT represented on Cardano. If you claimed the Glacier Drop, the tokens arrived in your Cardano wallet as cNIGHT, in the address you used for the claim.
- DUST is not a token you hold in the usual sense. It is capacity that accrues from registered NIGHT or cNIGHT, and it is spent to run shielded transactions.
The practical consequence matters: you do not need to move cNIGHT to Midnight to benefit from it. In GeroWallet, both native NIGHT on Midnight and cNIGHT held on your Cardano wallets feed the same DUST battery, and registration for cNIGHT happens from the Cardano side.
How the wallet works under the hood
Keys and accounts
GeroWallet derives your Midnight wallet from your existing seed, so one backup covers Cardano and Midnight. Keys are generated and stored locally in the extension. The wallet never has a copy, and the full source is public under Apache 2.0 at github.com/Gero-Labs/gerowallet if you want to verify how key handling works.
Hardware wallets from Ledger, Trezor and Keystone are supported for Cardano accounts. Passkeys are an optional unlock method you can turn on alongside your password.
Public and shielded balances
Midnight has two kinds of balance. NIGHT is public. Shielded balances are private and can only be read by someone with the viewing key. Since GeroWallet 2.7.1, shielded balances are shown on mainnet, with the wallet scanning notes in the background so the number stays current.
Private transfers of custom Midnight tokens are live on Stagenet, Midnight's test network, and will reach mainnet on Midnight's own schedule rather than Gero's. Treat anything you read about private token transfers on mainnet as not yet true unless the Midnight Foundation has announced it.
DUST registration and the battery
To generate DUST you register the NIGHT or cNIGHT you hold. Registration is an on-chain action and it needs a small ADA collateral. Wallets that only hold tokens in mixed UTxOs often cannot provide a clean collateral input, which is where many people stall. GeroWallet sponsors that collateral when your wallet lacks a pure-ADA UTxO, so the registration goes through on the first try.
Once registered, the battery fills over time. If you registered the same holding twice, the wallet detects the duplicate and walks you through consolidating, so your generation is not split. The step-by-step version lives in how to generate DUST the easiest way.
Where your proofs run
This is the design decision that separates Midnight wallets from each other. GeroWallet gives you three options, each with an explicit privacy consent screen:
- Gero Cloud. Zero setup. Proving runs on Gero's infrastructure.
- A local proof server. Runs in Docker on your own machine. Nothing leaves your device.
- Arkhia zkPaaS. A third-party proving service you connect with your own key.
You can switch between them from the dashboard or the side panel. For the privacy-maximal path, run the local server. For most people, Gero Cloud is the right default until they have a reason to change.
Where the feature is enabled, Cross-Device Proving lets a desktop generate proofs for the mobile wallet over an end-to-end-encrypted channel, so Gero's infrastructure only ever sees ciphertext.
What is live today
As of October 2026, inside GeroWallet 2.7.1:
- Midnight mainnet wallets, created from the onboarding card.
- NIGHT holding and public transfers of NIGHT and other Midnight tokens.
- DUST generation from native NIGHT and from cNIGHT on Cardano, with sponsored collateral and duplicate detection.
- Shielded balances on mainnet.
- Three proving options with per-option consent.
- A midnight-js dApp connector, so Midnight dApps can connect to the wallet and delegate proof generation to it.
- Stagenet replaces the retired Preview test network. Preview wallets migrate automatically.
Some 2.7 features are staged behind remote flags and reach accounts in waves, so if a control described here is not yet visible in your wallet, it is rolling out rather than missing.
Getting started, step by step
Install GeroWallet. Get the extension for Chrome, Brave or Edge from the download page. On iPhone, the app is in TestFlight, so join the beta if you want mobile.
Create or restore a wallet. Write the seed phrase down offline. If you already use GeroWallet for Cardano, you do not need a new seed. The Midnight wallet derives from the one you have.
Add a Midnight wallet. Open the onboarding card, choose Midnight, then mainnet. The wallet appears next to your Cardano wallets in the same dashboard.
Claim your NIGHT if you have not. The Glacier Drop claim happens on the Midnight Foundation's official portal, not inside any wallet. Claimed tokens arrive on Cardano as cNIGHT.
Register for DUST. In the DUST tab, register your cNIGHT or native NIGHT. If the wallet needs collateral, Gero sponsors it. Then watch the battery charge.
Choose where proofs run. Pick Gero Cloud, a local proof server or Arkhia, and read the consent screen before you accept it.
Send privately. Once the battery holds enough DUST, use it to pay for shielded transactions.
Who this wallet is for
It is for Cardano users who claimed NIGHT and want DUST without learning a second wallet, for developers testing Midnight dApps who need a connector and a choice of proof server, and for anyone who wants their transaction history to stop being a public record. It is not a replacement for your Cardano wallet. It is the same wallet with a second chain in it, which is the whole point. Our comparison of the best ADA wallets covers the Cardano side in depth.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Midnight blockchain wallet?
A non-custodial wallet that holds NIGHT, generates DUST and signs shielded transactions on the Midnight network. In GeroWallet it is created from your existing Cardano seed and lives in the same dashboard.
Is a Midnight wallet different from a Cardano wallet?
Yes. A Cardano wallet signs public transactions. A Midnight wallet also has to manage DUST and generate zero-knowledge proofs, and it has to let you decide where those proofs are computed.
Do I need to buy DUST?
No. DUST cannot be bought. It accrues from NIGHT or cNIGHT you have registered, and it refills over time like a battery.
Do I need to bridge my cNIGHT to Midnight?
No. GeroWallet registers cNIGHT for DUST from the Cardano side. Native NIGHT on Midnight and cNIGHT on Cardano both feed the same battery.
Does GeroWallet own Midnight?
No. Midnight is an independent network. GeroWallet is an official Midnight Network partner and provides the wallet you use to hold assets, generate DUST and transact on it.
Open your Midnight wallet today
If you hold NIGHT or cNIGHT, the shortest path to DUST is already in the wallet you use for ADA. Download GeroWallet, add a Midnight mainnet wallet from the onboarding card, and register in the DUST tab. The Midnight wallet page has the five-step walkthrough with screenshots.