Midnight Opens Permissionless Smart Contract Deployment on Mainnet

Midnight announced on October 2 that permissionless smart contract deployment is live on mainnet. The activation opens contract publication to developers building on Cardano’s privacy-focused partner chain and introduces programmatic deployment, allowing contracts to create additional contracts through their own logic.

Mainnet Deployment Without a Preprod Review

According to Midnight’s September State of the Network update, developers no longer need to complete a mandatory security review on Preprod before deploying contracts to mainnet. Preprod provides an environment for testing contracts and application integrations ahead of production use.

The change removes that review requirement from the mainnet deployment process, giving builders a direct route to publish their contracts on the live network.

The activation follows Midnight Foundation CTO Sebastien Guillemot’s September announcement that private smart contracts and the ability to mint private custom tokens were approaching mainnet availability. At that stage, the public deployment date and access requirements had not been announced.

These contracts operate on Midnight, extending the application infrastructure available within the wider Cardano ecosystem.

Private Contracts in v8, Composability in v9

Midnight combines zero-knowledge proofs with programmable privacy, allowing applications to verify operations while protecting the underlying information.

Developers use Compact, a programming language that connects public on-chain state with local private state. An application can define which information remains confidential and which facts must be disclosed or proven during an interaction. Network transactions consume DUST, the resource generated by NIGHT holdings.

Guillemot’s release clarification separates the current v8 capabilities from the planned v9 upgrade. Private contracts are available on mainnet, while composability and events are expected later in 2026.

Composability enables multiple contracts to interact within broader application operations. Events provide structured records of contract activity that applications and supporting tools can process.

Guillemot said basic applications are possible with the current release, while many builders are preparing their deployments and integrations ahead of v9. Applications requiring the additional interaction features will depend on that subsequent upgrade.

Contracts Can Programmatically Deploy Other Contracts

Midnight’s announcement also introduces programmatic contract deployment. An existing contract can deploy another contract as part of its application logic.

This capability could support applications designed to create a separate contract instance for an individual user or a specific operation. Developers define the creation logic, allowing deployment to become part of an application’s workflow.

Programmatic deployment and composability serve different functions. Deployment creates a new contract; composability governs how contracts interact during application operations. The former is included in the announced mainnet capabilities, while the latter remains planned for v9.

For applications using this deployment model, creating a contract can become a step within a user’s interaction with the service.