Cardano News: Cardano Onboards MoneyGram, eToro, and Vodafone as Midnight Node Validators

Key Insights

• MoneyGram is leading the Cardano news trend as an early node validator on Midnight Network.
• eToro and Vodafone bring their unique expertise to Midnight for a secure and reliable mainnet launch.
• EMURGO hopes to drive commercial adoption and asset tokenization on Cardano.

Midnight, a privacy-focused blockchain project that is shaping the Cardano news landscape as it has secured collaboration with MoneyGram, eToro, and Vodafone. These three entities all joined the Midnight network as federated mainnet node operators.

Cardano News: MoneyGram Becomes Midnight Validator

The Midnight Foundation announced that the network has welcomed MoneyGram into its platform as an initial federated node operator.

As an early node operator, MoneyGram will help run and secure the Midnight blockchain. MoneyGram is expected to test real-world use cases, such as bringing traditional payment systems onto blockchain.

According to the Cardano news, the collaboration will also see MoneyGram bridge TradFi and crypto by enabling confidential, compliant transactions. For instance, cross-border transfers that settle quickly on the blockchain while demonstrating regulatory compliance without revealing everything publicly.

Furthermore, MoneyGram brings practical knowledge of handling high-volume, regulated global payments. This strengthens the Midnight network for a smooth, reliable early mainnet debut, before transitioning to broader community participation.

MoneyGram joining the Cardano network is not just a random partnership. Rather, it is a major step showing institutional adoption of the Midnight privacy-first blockchain.

For emphasis, Midnight is a privacy-focused blockchain developed by Cardano. Midnight was designed to support confidential transactions and protect data use.

As part of its move toward full mainnet, Midnight developers released a new hard fork in December 2025. The upgrade added a built-in upgrade system, allowing future changes without major disruption.

Midnight Expand Node Operators to eToro and Vodafone

To complement the Cardano news trend, the list of federated node operators on Midnight is expanding. Recent additions include eToro and Vodafone. Their participation has brought the federated node operators to 7.

Initial participation included Google Cloud, Blockdaemon, AlphaTON Capital, and Shielded Technologies. In the latest list, Vodafone’s Pairpoint and eToro have now joined MoneyGram.

Pairpoint is a strategic venture dedicated to building the Economy of Things (EoT). The Internet of Things (IoT) connects devices to share data, but Pairpoint enables them to act as autonomous economic agents.

On its part, eToro brings a high standard of compliance and expertise to Mignight, as a globally regulated fintech.

Essentially, each federated node operator brings specific expertise to the network’s early operations. They also add unique expertise in building out utility for a broad range of applications.

However, all federated node operators will collectively operate the protocol under explicit rules for participation and coordination.

In the future, the Midnight Foundation intends to transition from this federated model to a fully decentralized state.

EMURGO on Cardano in RWA Tokenization

In another Cardano news, EMURGO, a core co-founding entity of the network, highlights its active role in advancing Real-World Asset (RWA) tokenization.

EMURGO emphasized that tokenization of RWAs is already reshaping global finance. This comment captures the current momentum in the crypto and fintech space.

As major players put it, RWA tokenization is no longer a niche experiment. Top institutions like  BlackRock and Ondo Finance have already tokenized billions in assets.

While the shift is happening, the debate has moved from adoption to inclusivity, according to EMURGO.

In a panel session at the Blockchain Summit 2026 in Tokyo, EMURGO CEO Phillip Pon emphasized democratizing RWAs. The CEO wants RWAs available to everyday users in developing regions, not just high-net-worth or institutional players.

The CEO went on to position EMURGO as a key builder in RWAs tokenization. Through investments, partnerships, infrastructure, and ecosystem support, they hope to drive commercial adoption and asset tokenization on Cardano.

Notably, the strengths of Cardano for RWAs include its native asset support, high security, governance, and privacy enhancements via Midnight. The Midnight network uses zero-knowledge proofs for rational privacy, which is ideal for RWAs needing confidentiality.