Mina Protocol (MINA) is a Layer-1 blockchain whose native asset, MINA, secures and pays for transactions on its own proof-of-stake network rather than on an EVM- or Solana-based chain.
Mina uses recursive zk-SNARKs, called "Pickles," to compress its entire blockchain state to a constant size of roughly 22KB regardless of transaction history, letting any device verify the chain without downloading its full history. The network launched under the name Coda Protocol and reached mainnet in March 2021.
Mina's core differentiator is compressing its entire blockchain history into a constant ~22KB state via recursive zk-SNARK proofs, keeping verification lightweight regardless of transaction volume.
This succinctness supports zkApps, Mina's smart-contract layer, and the zero-knowledge identity and real-world-asset tokenization use cases the project prioritized for 2026. The December 2025 unanimous on-chain vote approving the Mesa upgrade's performance and zkApp-capacity improvements reflects continued investment in that approach.
MINA is Mina Protocol's native token, used to pay transaction fees, staked by validators to help secure the network, and used by holders to vote on protocol changes.
This gives MINA holders a direct economic and governance stake in the network's operation and future direction.
Circulating supply was approximately 1,287,249,412.84 MINA as of September 2026, and MINA has no maximum supply cap.
Net emission is inflationary: annual issuance began at 12%, has since declined to roughly 9%, with a stated target near 7%, and there is no burn mechanism offsetting new supply.
Mina's public token sale ran on CoinList from April 13–15, 2021, offering 75 million MINA at $0.25 each and raising $18.75 million. Backers included Coinbase Ventures, Paradigm, Polychain Capital, Three Arrows Capital, and HashKey.
A separate March 2022 "Mina Ecosystem" sale co-led by Three Arrows Capital and FTX Ventures raised a further $92 million for zero-knowledge ecosystem growth.
Mina Protocol runs on its own purpose-built Layer-1 blockchain, not on Ethereum, Solana, or any other existing network.
Consensus is provided by Ouroboros Samasika, a proof-of-stake protocol under which validators stake MINA to produce and finalize blocks. This consensus layer is paired with recursive zk-SNARK proofs ("Pickles") that continuously compress the chain's full history into a fixed-size succinct proof, which is what keeps the network lightweight to verify.
Mina (originally Coda Protocol) was founded in 2017 by O(1) Labs co-founders Evan Shapiro and Izaak Meckler. Shapiro (CEO) brought a Carnegie Mellon computer science background and prior experience at Mozilla; Meckler (CTO) had been studying cryptography at UC Berkeley.
Shapiro became founding CEO of the newly formed Mina Foundation in August 2021. Kurt Hemecker, a former PayPal and Diem Association executive, was appointed Foundation CEO in December 2023. Both departed their Foundation roles in August 2025; Josh Cincinnati, former CEO of the Zcash Foundation, became interim CEO.
Two organizations jointly maintain Mina today: o1Labs, the original core-development company founded in 2017, and the Mina Foundation, a nonprofit steward launched in 2021.
Following an August 2025 board restructuring, responsibilities split between the two: the Mina Foundation retained stewardship of tokenomics, community governance, and development of a decentralized treasury, while o1Labs took over product delivery, protocol development, core technical personnel, and strategic decisions on which initiatives continue or are discontinued.
Mina is governed through on-chain Mina Improvement Proposals (MIPs): any community member may propose one, subject-matter experts review it, and MINA holders then vote directly on-chain.
A vote is cast by including a proposal-specific keyword in the memo field of a transaction sent from a MINA-holding wallet, with eligibility set by a published snapshot. In December 2025, MIPs 6–9 (the "Mesa Upgrade" package) were unanimously approved by community vote, clearing the way for the associated mainnet upgrade.
Mina's next major upgrade, "Mesa," entered public testnet on November 30, 2025 and targets mainnet later in 2026 after its MIPs 6–9 were unanimously approved in December 2025.
Mina's cryptography and code have undergone multiple independent audits by different firms. NCC Group reviewed the protocol's core cryptographic design, and Least Authority audited the "Pickles" recursive zk-SNARK system, finding no security-relevant issues. Least Authority separately audited Mina's transaction logic and transaction pool implementation.
Hacken audited the Mina Credentials system in March–April 2025, identifying 11 issues (1 Medium, 6 Low, 4 Informational), all since remediated or documented. As of the Q2 2026 update, audits of the Nori Bridge and a FROST threshold-signature multisig remained in progress.