Week in Mina News #14
Sep 01, 2024 - Stay Updated with the Latest from Mina: Protocol Updates, Developer News, and Community Highlights
⚙️ Core Protocol
Rust Node 0.7.0 Release
Updates
Transaction Pool (Alpha): Initial version introduced for handling transactions.
Enhanced Transaction Support: Capabilities for sending transactions, inspecting the transaction pool, and scanning states for the block producer demo.
Fixes
P2P Layer Fixes: Improved peer-to-peer communication stability.
Various Internal Fixes: General improvements and bug fixes for better performance.
Core RFPs
A tokenomics study is underway with Economics Design, working on the first milestone.
The wallet provider API standard is under review, with decisions forthcoming.
Internal Work
The fungible token standard has been audited, with version 1.0.0 now released.
🖼️ Ecosystem News
Aligned Layer, Mina to Ethereum Bridge
Aligned Layer posted an article detailing the upcoming Mina to Ethereum bridge. The bridge will simplify state proof verification and consensus, lower costs, and reduce latency, enhancing collaboration between the two ecosystems.
Full article here.
Palladians Announces Mangan
The developer of Pallad Wallet, Palladians, has introduced a new product called Mangan. Mangan comes with various features designed to enhance user experience, including Home, Quests, Leaderboard, zkApps, and TokenStudio sections.
ZkNoid's First Video Guide Launched
The @ETHGlobal Online Hackathon is ongoing, and ZkNoid is making waves! They’ve launched their first video guide on YouTube, “How to Use ZkNoid SDK,” teaching developers how to build a game from scratch. Watch it here.
Tileville: Road to NFTs Competition Winners Announced!
Congratulations to the top three winners who received a total of 650 MINA and exclusive NFTs. Three runners-up were also awarded 70 MINA each.
All prizes have been distributed! Winners, show off your new NFTs, and everyone else, stay tuned for more exciting events in the Tileville ecosystem.
Governance Updates
Developer Leaderboard Initiative
The Community Leaderboard Program, launched in July, rewards past Mina developer participants for consistent GitHub contributions with a 500 MINA grant. Seven builders won grants in July.
Mina as a Lab for Deliberation
Mina is using collective intelligence to enhance governance by encouraging deliberation, enabling direct democracy, and leveraging digital tools to improve decision-making. This innovative approach aims to build trust, overcome biases, and set a new standard for blockchain governance.
You can find the full article here.
Growth Programs
Navigators Grants Program Update
Growth Track
24 applications received, 11 funded.
ZkRegEx and zkNoid have successfully delivered their grants.
Six projects in development; two under final review.
254,000 MINA committed.
Starter Track
21 builders invited; 3 completed, 8 transitioning, 1 moved to Growth Track.
160,000 MINA committed.
zkIgnite Cohort 3 Concludes
21 projects submitted final milestones for review by 5 technical experts. 17 projects successfully delivered, achieving an 80% delivery rate.
⭐ Ecosystem Highlights
Zeko
Updates
@ZekoLabs has launched its upgraded DA Node, a vital component for ensuring scalable and secure transaction verification in the Zeko network. This upgrade improves data retrieval efficiency, enhancing transaction processing speed and reliability. The first node operators are onboarding now, marking a significant milestone toward Zeko's mainnet launch. You can find Zeko’s tweet here.
Ecosystem
Tokyo and Bali Highlights
Zeko Labs recently participated in major blockchain events across Asia. Co-founder Sebastien Guillemot presented at zkConnect Tokyo alongside Mina Protocol, while CPO Brian McKenna represented Zeko at Coinfest Asia in Bali.
Protokit
Updates
o1js Upgrade: The starter kit now automatically uses the latest version 1.6.0, with ongoing support for future versions.
Enhanced Tooling: Out-of-the-box support for developing App Chains and deploying using Docker.
Performance Boost: Faster test execution and quicker block production.
Bug Fixes: Various bugs have been addressed to improve stability and performance.
Other / Miscellaneous
@0xJayS_eth Becomes Official Mina Protocol Ambassador
@0xJayS_eth has been appointed as an official ambassador for Mina Protocol. Starting in January with a focus on content creation and community engagement, he joined the Ambassador program in May. By July, his contributions earned him the official ambassador title, aligning with Mina's values of privacy and trust.
📌 Mina Community Bulletin Board
This section features posts from the community and projects. You can submit yours here.
Blog Posts
“Learn About: Kimchi Proofs” - Aligned Layer
🎟️ Events
Last Week’s Events
WebX2024 Asia
At WebXAsia, Mina Protocol co-founder Evan Shapiro joined a panel with Terence Kwok, Jack O’Holleran, and Sander Gortjes to discuss 'Harnessing the Power of ZK.' The conversation focused on how AI's future development could impact zero-knowledge technology.
zkConnect Tokyo
At zkConnect Tokyo, Evan Shapiro highlighted Mina Protocol’s role in the ZK ecosystem, emphasizing browser proofs and zkApp access. Mirae Asset discussed their STO/RWA partnership for on-chain asset attestation, and ZekoLabs previewed their mainnet launch and EVM compatibility.
Mina Foundation’s Chinese DevRels Propel ZK Adoption Ahead of Asia Tour
Ahead of the Mina Asia Tour, Mina Foundation’s Chinese DevRels stood out at ETH Shenzhen. Daniel (Coldstar), a ZK technology enthusiast, and Jet, a decentralization advocate and founder of ZK Shanghai, are key figures driving Mina's adoption in China. Their work promotes zkApps and ZK research, with support from @NPC_Leo of @snzholding and Ian from @OpenBuildxyz.
💼 Open Jobs
No new job listings from the community this week. If you have any job updates or offers, please share them here.
👓 Statistics and Metrics
Key Metrics from Last Week:
Total Amount Transferred (daily average): 15,33M MINA
Unique Snark Workers (daily average): 8
Snarks Included (daily average): 9,071
Transactions (daily average): 8,323
CryptoMiso Commit Stats: Mina secured 2nd place over the past 12 months with 4575 commits and +100 contributors. More details here.