Week in Mina News #23
Nov 3, 2024 - Stay Updated with the Latest from Mina: Protocol Updates, Developer News, and Community Highlights
⚙️ Core Protocol
Mina Mainnet 3.0.3 Stable Update
o1Labs has announced the release of Mina Mainnet 3.0.3, now stable and available for supported environments, including macOS, Linux (Debian 11 and Ubuntu 20.04 LTS), and Docker. The update includes Debian packages for Mina Daemon and Mina Archive, as well as a new archive schema for data storage.
For detailed installation instructions, see the official release notes on GitHub: Mina 3.0.3 Release Notes.
🖼️ Ecosystem News
Mina Protocol Introduces Zero-Knowledge Machine Learning (zkML)Mina Protocol’s latest blog explores zkML, a breakthrough in combining AI with blockchain. zkML enables verification of computations while keeping data and models private. Key highlights include:
Challenges of merging AI and blockchain
zkML’s role in protecting sensitive data
Use cases unlocked by Mina’s recursive zk tech
This innovation aims to make decentralized AI a practical reality.
DinoDex Introduces New DEX on Mina
DinoDex, developing a project within the Mina ecosystem, recently shared insights into their new DeFi initiative in a blog post titled "Unlocking DeFi Potential with DinoDEX on the Mina Ecosystem." The team introduced their plans to create a decentralized exchange (DEX) on Mina, utilizing the ProtoKit framework and the o1js library. DinoDex aims to bring privacy-focused zkApps with all standard DEX features like swapping, liquidity pooling, and pool creation, showcasing the unique capabilities of Mina’s technology for privacy in decentralized finance.Follow them: https://x.com/realDinoDex/status/1852218315730723002
Jan Shared Rust Node Updates at Illuminate Townhall
Jan from Mina Foundation's Product & Engineering team recently participated in the Illuminate Town Hall, where he presented the latest updates on the Rust Node v0.11.0. Key improvements include:
P2P Enhancements: Reduced network traffic by fixing an issue causing excessive data transmission, alongside Yamux protocol improvements to prevent backpressure.
Webnode Fixes: Resolved staging ledger sync timeout issues and introduced connection authentication.
Ledger Bug Fixes: Addressed a bug with token ID handling that could lead to block application failures.
ZkNoid Reflects on Lottery L1 Testnet: Achievements & Future Plans
ZkNoid recently concluded the open beta phase for their latest game, Lottery L1, marking the largest community-driven initiative in their history. Over two weeks, the testnet saw enthusiastic participation from the Mina community, yielding impressive results and valuable insights. In a new blog post, ZkNoid shares key statistics, team reflections, and enhancements based on community feedback, highlighting the strides made and future prospects for the platform.
Tweet: https://x.com/ZkNoid/status/1852341600602497381/
ZkNoid Announces Lottery Testnet Winners and Bug Bounty Awards
ZkNoid has revealed the results of their recent Lottery testnet, celebrating the achievements of dedicated participants. A total of 43 users who reached the 2250-point threshold shared an 800 $MINA prize pool. Additionally, the top three contributors;
vvcc_77, Inthestrongwind, and sdtrv claimed a combined 400 $MINA in rewards.
Tweet: https://x.com/ZkNoid/status/1851666331466121445
Governance Updates
MIP Upgrade – Awaiting community feedback on the biggest governance proposal since the MIP process began. (Next Update: Nov 8)
Mina Ecosystem Funding Blogpost – Finalizing a post on MEF process and initial tests, set to release this month. (Next Update: Nov 8)
Tokenomics Review – Paused following community input, with a detailed report in development on token locking and other mechanisms. (Next Update: Nov 8)
Research Blogpost – Governance insights to be shared soon on MinaResearch. (Next Update: Nov 8)
Protocol Governance Toolkit (PGT) – Updates on LeaderBot, SurveyBot, and GovBot, gathering community input and iterating on improvements. (Next Update: Nov 8)
You can find more information about Governance operations here.
Growth Programs
CORE
During the recent Illuminate Town Hall, Philipp from Mina Foundation’s product and engineering team provided an update on the Core Grants Program, highlighting its commitment to critical infrastructure and public goods within the Mina ecosystem.
Current Initiatives in Progress:
NFT Standard: Work has begun following the contract signing with DFST, with a milestone demo planned soon.
Tokenomics Review: After receiving extensive community feedback, a detailed report is being prepared to evaluate Mina's tokenomics, including potential benefits and risks of token locking and other mechanisms.
Private Credential API: zkSecurity recently hosted a community demo.
zkPassport: Work has kicked off with Piconbello, with a demo expected soon.
Wallet API: Updates and further details will be provided by Pallad in upcoming sessions.
In Review:
ZKON: Currently undergoing an audit, with an incentivized testnet already underway.
Navigators
At the latest Illuminate Townhall, Haresh provided an update on the Mina Foundation's Navigators Program Growth Track:
Recent Funding: Three projects received support, including Revl.tech’s tools for NFT auction mechanisms (covering Dutch, blind, and other auction types), zkUSD—a project exploring stablecoin creation on Mina similar to DAI—and performance benchmarking tools for o1js/zkApps.
Completed Deliveries: zkDatabase as a Service and BlockBerry Security API projects have been completed.
Proposal Activity (Oct 1-28): A total of 16 proposals were received, with 1 funded, 1 in public review, 5 rejected, and 9 in the backlog for offline review.
⭐ Ecosystem Highlights
Protokit Updates
Protokit founder Raphael Panic recently joined the Illuminate October Town Hall, where he presented updates on the latest Protokit release. Key features of this release include:
Indexer for Historical Data: Enables rich GraphQL APIs for historical data indexing.
Data Processing Enhancements: New processor to handle historical data, allowing custom database schemas with autogenerated GQL APIs (similar to tools like The Graph or Subsquid).
Runtime Event Emission: Capability to emit events from the runtime, capturing essential information for future data processing.
Panic encouraged developers to update their starter kits to access these new features and benefit from recent bug fixes.
📌 Mina Community Bulletin Board
This section features posts from the community and projects. You can submit yours here.
X Posts
Blog Posts
MinaCon Istanbul 2024 Recap: Insights and Next Steps
https://www.o1labs.org/blog/minacon-2024-recap
(https://x.com/o1_labs/status/1852468799917981720)
Mina Block Producers
https://blockofchain.medium.com/mina-block-producers-f1d557a6b87b
(https://x.com/BlockofChain/status/1850596744817775025)
WEB 1–2–3 and Mina
SNARK Workers in Mina Protocol
https://blockofchain.medium.com/mina-snark-workers-e37de54ef2a2
🎟️ Events
Evan Shapiro at ZK Accelerate Bangkok
Mina Protocol will take the stage at ZK Accelerate in Bangkok on November 11, where Evan Shapiro will discuss "ZK Chains: Powering Verifiable Applications for the Private, Provable Web." This session will delve into Mina’s unique approach to zero-knowledge technology, exploring how ZK chains can enhance privacy and verifiability in web applications.
All the details here.
Last Week’s Events
Auxo Project's Minh Nguyen Shared Insights on Building zk Smart Contracts
Minh Nguyen, the founder of the Auxo project and a seasoned blockchain developer with four years of experience, shared valuable insights at the recent "zk Smart Contract: How to Build?" event hosted by ZKP Labs and supported by Mina Protocol. As a prominent builder on Mina, Minh discussed the intricacies of zero-knowledge smart contracts, contributing his expertise to advancing privacy-preserving solutions in the blockchain space.
You can find the full video record here.
💼 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): 24,13M MINA
Unique Snark Workers (daily average): 8
Snarks Included (daily average): 6,802
Transactions (daily average): 6,163
CryptoMiso Commit Stats: Mina secured 2nd place over the past 12 months with 3,989 commits and +100 contributors. More details here.
This newsletter helps the Mina community stay updated on the latest protocol changes, developer news, ecosystem developments, community activities, and key metrics. If you have news to share in this newsletter, please reach out to us here.
Better together! - Astromina Team