ODATANO Demonstrates a NEAR–Midnight Bridge on Testnets

ODATANO presented LIGHTSOUT at the NEAR Hackathon on November 14. The team reported a round trip in which test NEAR was locked on NEAR testnet, represented as wrapped NEAR on Midnight Preview, and released back on NEAR after the corresponding wrapped tokens were burned. ODATANO also published software packages for the bridge and a reward application that uses wNEAR on Midnight.

A Deposit on NEAR Becomes Shielded wNEAR on Midnight

A deposit begins when a user locks NEAR in a smart contract on the NEAR testnet. On Midnight, a contract checks proof of that deposit and issues a corresponding amount of shielded wNEAR. The original tokens stay locked on NEAR while the wrapped tokens are available for use on Midnight.

The bridge uses a light client on each side. A light client checks the information it needs from the other network without storing its full transaction history. A relay delivers the proofs between networks, and the receiving contract decides whether each proof meets the conditions for issuing or releasing tokens.

Cardano Helps the Bridge Check Midnight Finality

To withdraw, a user burns wNEAR on Midnight. The contract on NEAR checks that the burn was included in a finalized Midnight block before releasing the corresponding amount of NEAR. Finality is the point at which the network treats a block as settled.

In ODATANO’s design, the verifier on NEAR uses information from Cardano to establish which Midnight validators can attest to finality. That gives Cardano a role in verifying the withdrawal. The asset movements themselves take place on NEAR and Midnight.

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Test wNEAR Funds Rewards for AI Responses

ODATANO also built a reward board on Midnight where participants can offer wNEAR for an answer from a NEAR AI model. The model runs in a protected computing environment that signs an attestation for its response. The application checks the signature before releasing the reward.

The board gives the wrapped token a use within the test environment. A participant can move test NEAR to Midnight through LIGHTSOUT and use the resulting wNEAR to fund a reward on the same network.