Midnight Says Privacy Is Essential for Institutional Adoption

AI/InfraCon, an event focused on AI and Web3 infrastructure use cases, was held on May 15 at Dreamplus in Seoul's Gangnam district. The event was part of BUIDL Week's main program and covered topics including perpetual DEXs, real-world assets, stablecoins and AI agents. In a video keynote, Garrett Christian-Lim, growth director at the Midnight Foundation, argued that privacy is no longer optional and underscored the importance of privacy technology.

Christian-Lim described the current data management system as "chaotic" and said privacy has shifted from a choice to a necessity. He added that the spread of AI agents is structurally increasing the risk of data leaks.

"When users enter information into systems such as GPT, Claude and Gemini, they have no way of knowing where that data goes," he said. Personal information provided to AI agents can be exposed externally. He also cited cases in which sensitive data, including medical information, could be shared with third parties without the subject's consent. Privacy, he said, is a prerequisite for growth in finance, healthcare and AI.

Midnight presented what it calls "rational privacy" as a solution. The framework allows users to disclose only the information needed, to specific parties and under defined conditions. One example is recording salary data on-chain while keeping detailed information private and selectively providing only the necessary data to regulators or creditors.

To support that approach, Midnight introduced a dual-state ledger structure. It separates private and public ledgers so users retain control over their data while revealing only necessary information. The system also uses zero-knowledge proofs, or ZKPs, to validate transactions without exposing sensitive information.

Midnight has also been expanding its institutional partnerships. Monument Bank, a UK lender regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, is working with Midnight to manage about $330 million in retail deposit assets on privacy-based infrastructure. The arrangement is designed to preserve users' access to trusted assets while protecting their information.

The foundation is also discussing privacy standards with global companies including Google, Worldpay and Moneyblur. "Midnight is a Cardano partner chain and a Layer 1 blockchain with enhanced privacy features," Christian-Lim said. "We recently launched our main application, and we plan to expand cooperation in the Korean market through hackathons and accelerator programs."