Mina Protocol is designed as a lightweight, minimalistic blockchain, often regarded as the world’s lightest blockchain due to its fixed size of just 22KB, regardless of how many transactions or users the network supports. This unique feature makes Mina highly efficient in terms of computational resources, enabling decentralized applications (DApps) to run smoothly with minimal overhead.
As a Layer 1 blockchain built on zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP), Mina ensures both security and decentralization while maintaining scalability. Unlike traditional blockchains that grow endlessly, Mina’s succinct architecture allows the network to maintain its small size without compromising on security or performance. Smart contracts on Mina are written in TypeScript, allowing developers to use familiar programming languages while benefiting from the scalability that zero-knowledge technology offers.
Mina's development has been spearheaded by Evan Shapiro, CEO of O(1) Labs. The team’s vision is to build a secure and democratic computing infrastructure, one that moves beyond the centralized architectures of Web 2.0 into the more decentralized Web 3.0. The use of zero-knowledge proofs is at the core of this vision, offering a blockchain that is not only scalable but also privacy-focused.
Since its inception, Mina has attracted significant financial backing, raising $15 million in Series A funding in April 2019, followed by $10.9 million in strategic financing in October 2020. The mainnet went live in March 2021, marking a critical milestone in the protocol's journey toward building a more efficient and decentralized blockchain architecture. With its focus on reducing computational costs while maintaining security, Mina presents a compelling solution for developers and users who require efficient, scalable blockchain infrastructure.
Above are only for introduction, not intended as investment advice.