Mina Protocol: The lightest Blockchain platform in the world

Blockchain technology, as a revolutionary distributed ledger system, has shown great potential in various fields such as finance, social media, and the Internet of Things. However, with the expansion of its usage scale, blockchain faces severe challenges in scalability. Taking Bitcoin and Ethereum as examples, their blockchain capacities have exceeded 400 GB and 600 GB respectively, making it difficult for ordinary users to directly participate in network operations and forcing them to rely on centralized service providers, thereby undermining the decentralized nature and security of blockchain.

To address this challenge, Mina Protocol was born. As a "succinct" Blockchain platform based on zero-knowledge proof technology, Mina Protocol is dedicated to providing an efficient, secure, and privacy-preserving decentralized application environment.

The biggest feature of the Mina Protocol is its constant Blockchain size. By utilizing recursive zero-knowledge proof technology, the Blockchain size remains at around 22 KB regardless of the number of transactions or users in the network. This is because the Mina Protocol does not need to store the entire transaction history, only a zero-knowledge proof that represents the current state.

This innovative design allows even mobile devices with weaker computing power to easily sync and verify the Mina network. In contrast, running a full node for Bitcoin or Ethereum requires high-performance GPUs and large-capacity storage devices. Mina simplifies node deployment to mobile, greatly enhancing the decentralization and accessibility of the network.

In terms of consensus mechanism, Mina uses the Ouroboros Samasika Proof of Stake (PoS) algorithm. This algorithm allows an unlimited number of validators to participate and supports nodes to enter and exit freely, significantly lowering the threshold for running a node. At the same time, by adopting the "longest chain rule" and a special concise state summary mechanism, it effectively prevents security threats such as long-range attacks.

In addition to achieving the lightweight nature of Blockchain, Mina Protocol has also launched an innovative zkApps (Zero-Knowledge Applications) platform. zkApps are based on zero-knowledge proof technology, enabling data privacy protection, cross-chain interoperability, and connectivity with real-time networks. This allows users to enjoy the convenience of decentralized services while protecting their privacy and achieving seamless access to cross-chain assets and services.

The development team of Mina Protocol, O(1) Labs, was founded in 2017 by Evan Shapiro and Izaak Meckler, bringing together a group of world-class cryptographers, engineers, and entrepreneurs. Key members include CEO Evan Shapiro, CTO Izaak Meckler, and COO Emre Tekisalp, all of whom have extensive experience in the Blockchain and technology industries.

Since its establishment, Mina Protocol has completed four rounds of financing, raising a total of approximately $48.15 million. Investors include well-known institutions such as Coinbase Ventures, Polychain Capital, and Three Arrows Capital. These investments not only provided financial support to Mina Protocol but also offered strong assistance in market promotion and ecosystem construction.

Currently, the block height of Mina Protocol has exceeded 290,000, with 178 supernodes, a token circulation close to 1 billion, and a cumulative trading volume exceeding 220,000 transactions. As an innovative blockchain project, Mina Protocol demonstrates significant development potential with its features of efficiency, security, privacy, and interoperability, and is expected to play an important role in the future blockchain ecosystem.