Pete Bui Examines Cardano’s Leios Path and Midnight’s Growing Mainnet

Peter Bui has examined Cardano’s preparations for Leios alongside the expansion of Midnight’s mainnet in a new video covering developments across both ecosystems.

The Learn Cardano host discussed a proposed NIGHT rewards model for Cardano stake pool operators and delegators, as well as Monument Bank’s tokenized deposit plans. His review also covered applications for private messaging, trading and subscription management.

Midnight Opens to Developers as NIGHT Rewards Proposal Develops

Bui highlighted the opening of Midnight mainnet to developers deploying smart contracts. He described the change as a move away from an earlier gated process and pointed to applications beginning to launch on the network.

Midnight is designed to let applications use privacy-preserving technology when handling information. Bui described it as infrastructure that can work alongside other blockchains, naming Cardano, Ethereum, Solana and Tron as networks that could potentially connect with it.

Such connections require interoperability infrastructure, including bridges. Bui presented the wider multichain role as a direction for Midnight rather than a list of completed integrations.

He also discussed a draft proposal under which participating Cardano stake pool operators and their delegators could earn NIGHT through Midnight block production. The model described in his video would distribute rewards directly on Midnight.

The mechanism remains under development and is not active. Bui did not provide final participation requirements or a launch date, and delegating ADA does not currently guarantee NIGHT rewards.

The video also covered the final redemption period for tokens allocated through the Glacier Drop and Scavenger Mine. Bui raised the difficulties faced by some users whose wallets were compromised, noting that he had not found a solution he could recommend for their situation.

Cardano Tests Dijkstra While Leios Development Continues

Bui turned to DijkstraNet, the Cardano test network used to prepare features for the next major protocol upgrade. Intersect reported that the network moved to protocol version 12 on November 2 using cardano-node 11.2.

The testnet supports the registration of BLS keys for stake pools. These keys are intended for a voting process in Ouroboros Leios, a development of Cardano’s consensus protocol designed to increase the network’s capacity to process transaction data.

The DijkstraNet upgrade did not activate the full version of Leios. A separate test network, Musashi, runs a prototype that includes Linear Leios and a version of the broader Dijkstra feature set.

Bui expects increased throughput to improve the experience of using Cardano applications. Intersect has identified cardano-node 11.3 as the target release candidate for the full Dijkstra feature set, including Linear Leios. No confirmed date for its activation on Cardano mainnet was provided.

Bui also revisited Monument Bank’s partnership with the Midnight Foundation, highlighting a conference presentation about the potential use of blockchain in banking. The Foundation previously announced that the UK bank was targeting £250 million in tokenized deposits in the first phase of the partnership.

That amount remains a target. Bui did not report that the deposits had already been tokenized or that a customer product had launched.

[NEWSBREAK]

From Private Messaging to Prediction Markets

Bui’s application review began with RealFi, which he described as working with PulseWave, a privacy-focused communication platform for Cardano and Midnight wallet users.

According to the PulseWave description read in the video, the platform is in beta. Users connect through call signs, communicate in community spaces and encrypt conversations in the browser. Bui did not demonstrate how the relationship with RealFi works or describe its technical scope.

The video then moved to trading products. Bui discussed Strike Finance’s announced partnership with Conflux, which includes plans for fiat off-ramps through BitUnion and a Strike Lottery rewards feature. Strike targeted a launch for the bank off-ramps later in November; Bui presented both features as upcoming plans.

He also covered ATLAS, a perpetual futures platform that he reported had launched on Cardano mainnet after a period of testing. Among its features, he highlighted Discord notifications for events such as the confirmation of an open position.

On Midnight, Bui drew attention to Ascend Markets’ Prediction Perps, a product combining prediction markets with perpetual futures mechanics. According to the announcement read in the video, private mainnet groups received the first access, with wider public access planned afterward. Bui noted that he had not yet tried the product.

His review also included Revuto’s subscription management application and its move into the Solana ecosystem. He closed the project updates with WingRiders, highlighting the Cardano decentralized exchange’s redesigned interface and visual identity.