Midnight Airdrop Frenzy: 250M Tokens CLAIMED in 24 Hours as ADA Stumbles

Crypto's latest free-for-all sees midnight traders snagging a quarter-billion tokens—while Cardano trips over its own shoelaces.

The Airdrop Gold Rush

FOMO hit warp speed as the Midnight Network's token giveaway ignited a 24-hour feeding frenzy. 250 million CLAIMED tokens vanished faster than a Bitcoin maximalist's patience for 'ETH killers.'

Cardano's Speed Bump

Meanwhile, ADA's chain groaned under the weight of its own ambitions—proving once again that in crypto, the 'Ethereum killer' narrative kills more projects than it does competitors. Network congestion left bagholders staring at pending transactions like Wall Street brokers watching the 1929 ticker tape.

The lesson? In blockchain, the only thing harder than scaling solutions is scaling expectations. Especially when the 'future of finance' still can't handle a token drop without coughing up blood.

TLDR

• The Midnight Airdrop saw over 250 million NIGHT tokens claimed within the first 24 hours of launch.
• ADA holders received the largest portion, with 50% of the total token supply allocated to them.
• Bitcoin holders claimed 20% of the total supply, while the remaining 30% was distributed among other cryptocurrency holders.
• ADA Ledger users faced issues confirming wallet ownership due to a bug in the Ledger implementation.
• Charles Hoskinson confirmed a temporary fix for the ADA Ledger issue and assured users that it would be resolved by late August.

The Midnight airdrop reached a significant milestone, with over 250 million NIGHT tokens claimed within the first 24 hours. This surge follows the introduction of the Glacier Drop, which rewards users across eight major blockchain ecosystems. As the airdrop gains momentum, ADA Ledger users face difficulties with wallet verification, prompting a quick response from the Midnight team.

Midnight Airdrop Sparks Rapid Adoption Among Blockchain Communities

The Midnight Foundation officially launched the NIGHT token airdrop, offering rewards to holders of ADA, BTC, ETH, XRP, and other cryptocurrencies. The airdrop focuses on rewarding privacy-centric utility, with tokens distributed through the phased Glacier Drop initiative. The claim portal, live on midnight.gd, allows eligible users those holding at least $100 in supported assets during the June 11 snapshot to claim their share of the 250 million tokens.

Cardano holders are receiving the largest portion of the airdrop, with 50% of the total supply reserved for them. Bitcoin holders follow with 20%, while the remaining 30% is allocated proportionally among users with ETH, XRP, SOL, BNB, AVAX, and BAT. This distribution ensures that a broad base of cryptocurrency holders can participate in the Midnight airdrop, fostering strong early adoption.

ADA Ledger Users Face Verification Challenges During Midnight Airdrop

Despite the widespread success, ADA Ledger users have encountered challenges verifying their wallets for the airdrop. These issues stem from a bug in the Ledger implementation of the Cardano Improvement Proposal CIP-8. As a result, affected users cannot confirm wallet ownership and complete their claims on the Midnight platform.

In response, cardano founder Charles Hoskinson addressed the situation, promising a temporary fix to resolve the issue. The solution involves signing a null transaction to embed a 251-byte payload within transaction metadata, a process only necessary for ADA Ledger users. This workaround will be integrated into the Glacier Drop claim portal by late August, ensuring that impacted users can redeem their NIGHT tokens without delay.

Already 11000 redemptions for 250,000,000 night! I'm blown away by the progress

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) August 6, 2025

The Midnight team, led by Bob Blessing Hartley, emphasized that wallet security remains a priority across all supported ecosystems. The delay in full wallet compatibility for some hardware wallets ensures that user data remains secure while allowing the airdrop to proceed. ADA users’ allocations, based on the June 11 snapshot, remain unaffected by the delay.

A message from @ShieldedBob, CTO of @shieldedtech diving into the Glacier Drop claim process for ADA ledger holders. 👇 pic.twitter.com/PaQUrva8Ec

— Midnight Foundation (@midnightfdn) August 5, 2025

Midnight Airdrop Pushes Privacy-Centric Vision for Web3

The Midnight airdrop reflects the Midnight Foundation’s mission to bring “rational privacy” to the Web3 space. By empowering users to control when and how their data is shared, the Midnight team aims to promote privacy without sacrificing security. With the ongoing Glacier Drop initiative, Midnight continues to build on its goal of creating a more secure, privacy-focused blockchain ecosystem.