Midnight Token Slides 35% After 515M NIGHT Drained From Wanchain Bridge

Midnight's NIGHT token came under heavy pressure after a series of large onchain transfers from a Wanchain bridge contract sparked a rapid selloff. Onchain data shows a Wanchain bridge contract, originally funded in December 2025, moved 515.2 million NIGHT—the native token of Cardano partner chain Midnight—in roughly eight minutes. The same contract reportedly held other liquid assets such as Mynth, XER, and WMT, but only NIGHT was withdrawn, pointing to a targeted action. Transfer trail points to linked wallets Cardano community investigator UTxOMaestro said in an X thread that the 515.2 million NIGHT arrived in four tranches: 203.0 million, 129.6 million, 120.4 million, and 62.1 million. All four transfers landed in the same wallet between 14:46 UTC and 14:55 UTC on July 20, 2026. The investigation also indicated Wallet 1 (W1) and Wallet 2 (W2) were likely controlled by the same entity. According to the analysis, W1 first sent 1,000 ADA to W2, then transferred 200.06 million NIGHT. W2 later returned 100.31 million NIGHT along with ADA and USDCx, behavior consistent with coordinated control. Roughly 300M NIGHT sold via DEXs After receiving the tokens, W1 began offloading NIGHT on decentralized exchanges. Early estimates suggest about 300 million NIGHT was sold, helping drive an initial price drop that approached 50%. Blockchain records flagged multiple confirmed swaps, including 217.7 million NIGHT exchanged for about 24.02 million ADA, and 87.88 million NIGHT swapped for roughly 1.44 million USDCx. Liquidation appears unfinished. Investigators reported W1 moved 200 million NIGHT to W2. As of the review, W2 had sold only a small portion, leaving a large balance that could add further selling pressure. Instead of immediately selling everything, W2 deposited about 68.27 million NIGHT into the Liqwid lending protocol as collateral, borrowed roughly 4.364 million ADA, and sent the borrowed ADA back to W1. Midnight Foundation: network not compromised Amid growing community concerns, the Midnight Foundation said Midnight's blockchain was not breached. The foundation attributed the incident to the Wanchain CardanoBNB bridge, describing it as third-party cross-chain infrastructure. It added that Midnight's protocol, validator set, consensus mechanism, and core infrastructure remain secure and operational, and said there is no current evidence the event affected Midnight's network integrity. Price swings and elevated volume The selloff drove sharp volatility. NIGHT rose to an intraday high of $0.02689 before sliding to $0.01582 as onchain selling intensified. At the time of writing, NIGHT is down 35.12% over the past 24 hours, trading around $0.0174. Trading activity surged, with daily volume up 798% to $125.96 million. While the token has rebounded modestly from its lows, analysts continue to flag the remaining unsold holdings as an overhang that could keep pressure on the price if more tokens are sold. Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. The views expressed may reflect the author's personal opinions and do not represent The Crypto Basic's views. Readers should conduct their own research before making investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.