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. |
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.
Learn the building blocks
Review circuits, ledgers, and assignments that form Midnight’s foundation.
Explore →Explore Compact contracts
See how Compact defines confidential logic and interacts with verified data.
Open →Keep data private
Learn the patterns that restrict data visibility to authorized participants.
Learn →Understand Compact semantics
Trace how the runtime enforces rules over public and private data.
Read →Assess the impact
Consider how privacy-preserving computation changes decentralized systems.
Assess →