Private trading
Private tokens and the Shield
Turn a token into its private twin (sNIGHT, sSHADE) and back.
Midnight has two kinds of token. Public tokens, like NIGHT and SHADE, show who holds what, as on any chain. Private (shielded) tokens are coins only their owner's wallet can see: the chain records that a transaction happened, not who sent what to whom, or how much.
The Shield is Nightshade's contract that turns a public token into its private twin and back, one for one. NIGHT's twin is sNIGHT, SHADE's is sSHADE, and every other token gets one the same way.
Private trading is still being finished. It comes to the Preview testnet first, and opens on mainnet after its audit.
Shield a token
On the Private page, pick a token and an amount and press Make private. Your public tokens go into the Shield, and the same amount of the private twin comes to your wallet's private side.
Make it public again
Pick a private twin and an amount and press Make public. The twin is burned and the same amount of the public token is paid to your Midnight address.
Why it's safe
- One for one, always. The Shield holds every public token it has taken in. What it holds of each token is exactly the twins that exist, in wallets and in the Private Book, and anyone can check that on chain.
- Unshielding never stops. Nightshade's admin can pause new shielding, for example if a problem is found, but can never stop anyone turning a twin back into its token. Nothing is ever stuck in the Shield.
- Same twin for everyone. A twin's identity comes from its token and the Shield, so every sNIGHT is the same token, whoever made it.
What shielding shows
Shielding and unshielding are public: the chain shows the address and the amount going in or coming out. What happens in between doesn't show: holding twins, sending them, and trading them on the Private Book, in the Dark Pool or with a swap link.
So shield ahead of time, not right before a trade, and don't unshield the exact amount you just shielded. Otherwise someone watching can match the two.
What you can do with twins
- Trade them on the Private Book, where nobody sees who traded.
- Trade them in the Dark Pool, where nobody sees what you traded either.
- Swap them wallet to wallet with a link, or send them to anyone's private address.
Twins don't trade on the Public Book. Make them public first.