MoneyGram (MGI), one of the world’s leading cross-border money transfer and payments companies, announced on February 24 that it will become the founding operator of a federated node on the Midnight Network.
The company is linking this decision with its strategy to expand the use of stablecoins in international payments. MoneyGram already facilitates the conversion between cash and digital assets. By integrating Midnight into a layer that validates its behavior, assets can be circulated within the network.
In Midnight is a privacy-focused Cardano sidechain developed by Input Output Global, and its mainnet activation, scheduled for March 2026, will begin operating under a federated model. A limited group of selected entities will operate on the first node.
As stated by the MoneyGram team, joining this coalition phase as a founding operator means: How transactions are executed and verified from the beginning of the network. In that first stage they are Federated Founding Nodes run based on technical rules coordinated by the Midnight Foundation.
By operating its own infrastructure, the company strives to ensure privacy, operational stability, and regulatory compliance standards are built into its technical architecture and to avoid dependence on third parties.
MoneyGram and other major companies join Midnight Network
Meanwhile, Midnight Foundation reports that in addition to MoneyGram, two other companies are also joining the network. it is about Pair Point (a joint venture between Vodafone and Sumitomo Corporation) and eToro As operators of federated nodes in the chain.
Both participate in the early stages by securing the central infrastructure under a coordinated model before the main layer launches.
Pairpoint, promoted by Vodafone, aims to incorporate Midnight into the development of the so-called ‘economy of goods’. Connected devices can operate as autonomous economic agents.
According to David Palmer, the company’s chief innovation officer, the zero-knowledge cryptographic proof-based architecture enables digital identity and trusted authentication of devices on a global scale.
EToro (ETOR), a NASDAQ-listed investment platform with over 35 million users, operates federated nodes that provide regulatory and financial markets experience.
The financial firm noted that Midnight’s infrastructure, with its confidential smart contracts and integrated validation, has the potential to facilitate on-chain markets with programmable data protection and regulatory compliance by design.
As reported by CriptoNoticias, Google Cloud was added to this group of institutions and announced in September 2025: operate the node Un la Red Midnight. Other companies such as Blockdaemon, Shielded Technologies, and AlphaTON complete the list of companies partnering with the Cardano sidenet ecosystem.
What does it mean to be a founding operator of a federated node on the Midnight network?
As the founding operator of federated nodes, MoneyGram brings together a series of institutions, including: Collectively executes the core software of the protocol.
Among its tasks, this group ensures availability, security, coordinated updates, and validates transactions, including processing zero-knowledge cryptographic proofs (ZK proofin English) for privacy.
MoneyGram’s role is neither separate nor open, but part of a closed infrastructure that prioritizes stability and regulatory compliance prior to the launch of the Midnight core layer.
