September has been busy for builders across the Midnight ecosystem. Here are two developments worth knowing about, based on updates shared by the Midnight Foundation.
Ura Labs Tests DUST Fee Sponsorship
Ura Labs, the team behind Relay Club, launched a DUST fee sponsorship pilot on Preprod on September 8. As part of the pilot, it completed a test NFT mint through its sponsorship API.
Let us unpack that:
DUST fee sponsorship: A setup where an app pays the transaction fee for the user. On Midnight, fees are paid in DUST, a private resource generated by holding NIGHT.
Preprod: Midnight's testing network, where developers try things out safely before using real funds.
NFT mint: Creating a new non fungible token, a unique digital item like a collectible or ticket.
API: Application programming interface, a way for one piece of software to request services from another.
In plain terms, Ura Labs showed that users can create an NFT without paying any fees themselves. That kind of experience is key to bringing in people who have never touched crypto.
Midnight Korea Hackathon 2026
Builders in Korea have been competing in the Midnight Korea Hackathon 2026, a four week online event with a $6,000 prize pool for privacy focused applications. Submissions close on September 28, and winners are set to be announced on September 29. Top teams may be considered for the Midnight Build Club, which supports promising projects as they grow.
A hackathon is a competition where teams build working software in a short window, often leading to real startups.
Why It Matters
Fee free user experiences and a steady pipeline of new builders are two of the strongest signals that an ecosystem is maturing. Both are on display this month.