Mina Protocol Completes Major Upgrade Bringing Enhanced ZK Programmability to Mainnet
News provided by PRCrypto
Mina Protocol, the zero knowledge (ZK) blockchain for proving anything, has completed a major network upgrade process bringing enhanced ZK programmability to its mainnet. The upgrade enables zkApps to be built and deployed on the Mina mainnet, setting the stage for the development of new zero knowledge-powered use cases and equipping builders with a powerful and easy-to-use ZK developer toolkit.
In development since 2021, the long-anticipated upgrade moves smart contract execution off-chain, and leaves verification on-chain, solving many of the most common blockchain infrastructure challenges, such as data constraints, scalability issues, and high gas costs. This paradigm shift makes it easier for developers to build with zero knowledge and create zkApps, granting new levels of control and ownership for users over their data.
zkApps can enable and scale new use cases for voting, healthcare, digital identity, gaming, and much more. Examples of projects already building in the Mina ecosystem include PunkPoll, a censorship-resistant survey and voting platform, bioSNARKs, a stack for biotech data, Hakata, a solution offering "compliant privacy" for Web2 and Web3 companies, and Paima Studios, an engine for on-chain gaming. Unlike many other dApp platforms that use new programming languages, zkApps use o1js, a TypeScript-based library already understood by a wide pool of TypeScript developers who are now empowered to build with ZK.
For developers seeking more information about this upgrade, please visit https://minaprotocol.com/.
In development since 2021, the long-anticipated upgrade moves smart contract execution off-chain, and leaves verification on-chain, solving many of the most common blockchain infrastructure challenges, such as data constraints, scalability issues, and high gas costs. This paradigm shift makes it easier for developers to build with zero knowledge and create zkApps, granting new levels of control and ownership for users over their data.
zkApps can enable and scale new use cases for voting, healthcare, digital identity, gaming, and much more. Examples of projects already building in the Mina ecosystem include PunkPoll, a censorship-resistant survey and voting platform, bioSNARKs, a stack for biotech data, Hakata, a solution offering "compliant privacy" for Web2 and Web3 companies, and Paima Studios, an engine for on-chain gaming. Unlike many other dApp platforms that use new programming languages, zkApps use o1js, a TypeScript-based library already understood by a wide pool of TypeScript developers who are now empowered to build with ZK.
Kurt Hemecker, CEO of Mina Foundation, an organization serving the Mina Protocol and its ecosystem, said, "This upgrade not only marks a major milestone for the Mina community but is a significant breakthrough for the industry as a whole. The killer use cases for blockchain – DeFi, on-chain gaming, digital identity, blockchain interoperability, voting, secure supply chains, and compliance – all require zero knowledge proofs as a foundation to innovate and scale. Unlocking ZK programmability will give developers the building blocks to plug and play with ZK. By enabling the creation of more powerful applications built on top of Mina's optimized proof layer, this upgrade pushes us closer to a truly verifiable, trustless internet."
Designed to be the most succinct blockchain that gets more decentralized as it scales, Mina's entire state history is represented by a recursive zero knowledge proof (ZKP), making it accessible and verifiable by anyone from any device. This single 'proof of everything' acts as an open database of true statements, where developers have access to all previous computation to extend or reuse, setting a strong foundation for tomorrow's innovators to build the 'Internet of (True) Things.'
Brandon Kase, CEO of o1Labs, the software development company that incubated Mina Protocol, elaborated, "The real magic happens when you look beyond just privacy or scalability. Attesting to individual statements of facts is useful within specific applications, but the true potential of Mina will be realized by those who harness the power of massive collaborative computation. Mina is on the precipice of opening up a vast new design space, and today, we take another step forward together with the community. This upgrade would not have been possible without the active participation of 400+ node operators, who played a key role in ensuring the smooth transition of the network, and hundreds of developers in the community who have been experimenting and sharing valuable feedback with early versions of o1js and other Mina platform tooling."
Designed to be the most succinct blockchain that gets more decentralized as it scales, Mina's entire state history is represented by a recursive zero knowledge proof (ZKP), making it accessible and verifiable by anyone from any device. This single 'proof of everything' acts as an open database of true statements, where developers have access to all previous computation to extend or reuse, setting a strong foundation for tomorrow's innovators to build the 'Internet of (True) Things.'
Brandon Kase, CEO of o1Labs, the software development company that incubated Mina Protocol, elaborated, "The real magic happens when you look beyond just privacy or scalability. Attesting to individual statements of facts is useful within specific applications, but the true potential of Mina will be realized by those who harness the power of massive collaborative computation. Mina is on the precipice of opening up a vast new design space, and today, we take another step forward together with the community. This upgrade would not have been possible without the active participation of 400+ node operators, who played a key role in ensuring the smooth transition of the network, and hundreds of developers in the community who have been experimenting and sharing valuable feedback with early versions of o1js and other Mina platform tooling."
For developers seeking more information about this upgrade, please visit https://minaprotocol.com/.