Concepts

Understand the core ideas behind Midnight, including confidentiality with zero-knowledge proofs, contracts, and verifiable computation.

Core concepts cover these terms

Concept	Explanation
Who interacts	Accounts define who participates on Midnight. They manage keys, addresses, and authorization. This shows who acts in the system.
Where data lives	Ledgers store state. Midnight keeps a public ledger for visible data and a private ledger for shielded data. This shows where state is stored and who can see it.
How value moves	The UTXO model defines spendable pieces of value or state. Midnight extends this model with private state elements. This shows how value flows through the system.
How apps connect	Web3 explains how wallets, connectors, and dApps communicate with contracts. This shows how users and applications interact with Midnight.
How privacy is enforced	Zero-knowledge proofs verify correctness without exposing sensitive data. This shows how private actions stay verifiable.
How computation is proved	Kachina is Midnight’s proving system. It converts private computation into verifiable proofs. This shows how we trust execution we cannot see.
How it all comes together	ZSwap applies these concepts in practice. It uses private state, proofs, and confidential execution. This shows how a real private dApp works end-to-end.

Accounts

Learn how Midnight accounts, addresses, and keys relate to each other.

Read →

Ledgers

See how public and private ledgers track state and interact securely.

Read →

UTXO model

Review how UTXOs represent value and how Midnight extends the model.

Read →

Web3

Understand how Midnight fits into wallets, dApps, and existing tooling.

Read →

Zero-knowledge proofs

Understand how ZK proofs protect data while proving correctness.

Read →

Kachina

Learn about the proving system that powers Midnight’s confidential computation.

Read →

ZSwap

See how confidential swaps preserve privacy while enabling efficient exchange.

Read →

Midnight uses zero-knowledge proofs to keep sensitive data private while still verifying contract logic. Its smart contracts operate across public and private ledgers, reducing transaction correlation and supporting secure, confidential on-chain atomic swaps of tokens and metadata.