What is Mina’s major upgrade?

Mina Protocol’s upcoming upgrade is set for June and will mark a pivotal moment, bringing enhanced ZK programmability to the mainnet. This will enable ZK smart contracts, zkApps, layer 2 solutions, and bridges, benefiting millions of end-users.

Why is this a game-changer? Blockchains and on-chain apps alike need a universal proof layer, a place to settle proofs from any blockchain or system— and the forthcoming changes will make that possible. Mina is designed differently, rolling all proofs into a singular ‘proof of everything’ that can be efficiently verified from any device and plugged into other applications.

This upgraded design moves smart contract execution off-chain, and leaves verification on-chain, solving common challenges in Web3, including data constraints, system limitations, gas costs, and more. Mina’s unique infinite recursion allows applications and developers to verify proofs of everything in a decentralized, secure, and scalable manner… More information on this soon.

Wen?

June. pic.twitter.com/EzUGVWO5VW

— Mina Protocol (httpz) 🪶 (@MinaProtocol) April 22, 2024

Why now?

This upgrade, named the Berkeley upgrade, has been in the works since Mina’s Mainnet launched in 2021 as a pioneer of zero knowledge (ZK) technology. Its unique ZK-native architecture addressed the key bloating problem, allowing anyone to download the chain’s history proof in just 22 kilobytes (KB) and run a node to secure the network quickly without replaying the entire chain transactional history. This enabled true scalable decentralization while unlocking unique use cases, like running a validator node inside your browser.

ZK technology, while promising, remains complex, especially in the realm of smart contract development. However, Mina’s ecosystem has made significant progress in simplifying this process and advancing Mina as the go-to platform for intuitive ZK-native development. With tools like o1js, a TypeScript library, cryptographic complexities are abstracted, easing the creation of zkApps. Additionally, Protokit offers a familiar development experience akin to building Solidity apps, further streamlining the process for Mina developers.

The Berkeley upgrade primes the Mina network for the next phase in our digital world, addressing the need for an internet where users can verify proofs of information, ensuring data validity and reliability. It will take its native ZK capabilities to another level—to serve as a universal proof layer—by aggregating proofs of information from both Web3 and Web2 realms and settling and verifying them to Mina’s layer 1.

It also represents a significant step forward for Web3 developers looking to leverage ZK features (off-chain computation, cost-effective verification, private inputs) in their applications in order to build commercial products on Mina that prioritize user privacy and control.

What features will this Mina Berkeley upgrade bring?

Proposed and voted on by the Mina community through on-chain governance, the Berkeley upgrade will bring three key features to the network: MIP1, MIP3, and MIP4. 

1. Easier zkApp programmability: With o1js, a TypeScript framework for writing ZK smart contracts, the upgrade simplifies the process of creating zkApps, making it more accessible to developers.
2. A more powerful proof system: The upgrade incorporates Kimchi, a new proof system that enhances security and supports the added programmability.
3. Removal of Supercharged Rewards: Supercharged Rewards were a temporary incentive to boost staking adoption early on, but their removal ensures equal rewards for all and will reduce inflation, as per community member Gareth Davies’ passed proposal.

Ecosystem partners, such as o1Labs, have played a pivotal role in preparing Kimchi, implementing zkApp transaction logic, and enabling o1js to support zkApps and bindings to the protocol and proof system layers.

What does the Mina Berkeley upgrade mean for developers?

Mina Protocol’s entire blockchain is represented by a single recursive proof that can be verified on any device in a matter of milliseconds. Not only is this beneficial for decentralization, but for zkApps too.

zkApps leverage zero knowledge proofs to unlock new use cases for decentralized apps. The upgrade will allow for the execution of ZK smart contracts off-chain, enabling unlimited computation without gas fees while enhancing privacy. This approach shifts computational tasks to client-side environments like browsers or servers, eliminating the need for redundant on-chain execution by all network validators and avoiding network congestion and associated costs.

Key Features of zkApps:

• Off-Chain Computation: zkApps mirror on-chain smart contract functionalities off-chain, enhancing security and efficiency without replaying computations.
• Unlimited Computation without Gas Fees: Unlike Ethereum, which uses gas fees to pay for on-chain computation, zkApps can perform unlimited computations off-chain. This reduces blockchain bloat and allows for more complex logic without incurring extra costs, thanks to zk-SNARKs’ scalability.
• Supports Increased Complexity and Scalability: zkApps can handle complex algorithms over extended periods without on-chain limits. They use recursive zk-SNARKs to integrate multiple proofs into one, maintaining constant verification time regardless of the amount of computation.
• Built-in Privacy: zkApps can securely handle private data without exposing it, contrasting with Ethereum’s model where all computation inputs must be public. This is achieved through the use of zk-SNARKs, which allow for the inclusion of both public and private inputs in cryptographic proofs.
• Modular Proofs: Mina Protocol’s entire state history is represented by a recursive zero knowledge proof (ZKP), which can be bridged to other chains, allowing Mina to act as a proof layer for other chains and apps. Developers could reuse others’ proofs in their own apps, bringing unprecedented flexibility and interoperability.

These features will offer developers across the ecosystem and beyond a unique variety of tools to build intuitive and interconnected ZK applications with ease, such as in digital identity, ZK gaming, ZK NFTs, DeFi, and more. One such example is permissioned DeFi, where a DEX could require proof of KYC approval in order to participate in DeFi activities without requiring its users to disclose their identity or other sensitive personal data. This brings us much closer to regulatory-compliant solutions within Web3.

Now, projects on Mina that have been in development on testnet will have their time to shine — and can think about how to use Mina’s added functionality to build for today’s trustless digital world.

How will the Berkeley upgrade work?

There are lots of moving pieces in the upgrade process, which requires substantial coordination across many ecosystem contributors.

Before the mainnet upgrade takes place, the Mina Foundation and o1Labs engineering teams, together with Mina community members and ecosystem projects, have worked to replicate the process and engineer the upgrade mechanism in a testnet environment. This involved several end-to-end dry-runs of the full Berkeley upgrade process. 

Mina Protocol will need the support of the block producers if the upgrade is to be successful, ensuring no single point of failure. It will be possible to measure how much stake is upgraded to the pre-berkeley build release, and if the percentage of upgraded active stake is below 50% before the upgrade initiation, the process will start over and a new package will be released. See the high-level process below.

Mina’s unique technology makes upgrades for end users a seamless transition, with the majority of activity happening behind the scenes. The network will experience 15 hours of downtime in between the time transactions stop getting accepted until the first Berkeley block is generated. As usual, the network activity will be monitored exhaustively throughout the process to ensure security and stability. 

MINA holders do not need to do anything throughout this process, although please note you will not be able to transact during network downtime. There may also be service interruption while your chosen exchange updates their system, so please keep an eye out on their social channels. You can also find more technical details about what to expect in this blog.

Progress Updates

Community support is paramount to the success of the pre-upgrade testnet, and many ecosystem partners have been working diligently to prepare for this major upgrade. One such initiative is Testworld Mission 2.0, a key workstream for the transition, in which hundreds of community members came together to push the network to its limits. 

The first Mina mainnet release candidate, RC1, announced in early February, has incorporated all the critical issues from the findings from Testworld 2.0 ramp-up releases, including new features and bug fixes, as well as improvements to efficiency, performance, and stability.

The final stage before starting to upgrade Devnet and Mainnet public networks was to test the upgrade mechanism exhaustively. After a couple of successful runs in a private cluster setting, contributors from across the ecosystem joined the UMT program (Track 4 of Testworld 2.0) to test the tooling and processes that will entail the Mainnet upgrade. The upgrade to the UMT network was a success, and the network shut down after the final monitoring and verification on Friday, 8th of March.

The Devnet network was the first official Mina Protocol public network to be upgraded, which was the final milestone before the mainnet upgrade takes place.

After the Upgrade

Following the successful Berkeley upgrade, transparency and frequent delivery will be the top priority. Beyond continuous monitoring of the network, the focus will be on pushing performance improvements and introducing new features and tooling to realize the vision — a decentralized and scalable digital world.

Among the key advancements to anticipate are token standards to create and manage new tokens on Mina, improved developer experiences, higher TPS, and supporting ecosystem builders to get to production.

It is important to note that while the Berkeley upgrade lays the groundwork for this vision, mainnet will not yet have achieved peak performance. Ecosystem contributors will continuously be working to deliver performance improvements. New and existing developers will also continue to have access to other networks and tools for kick starting and iterating on their projects until they are mainnet ready: 

• Devnet provides developers with an optimal environment for testing and deployment on a long-lived chain, maintained alongside the mainnet.
• Lightnet, maintained by o1Labs, offers a sandbox environment for developers to test their zkApps locally or within their development setups. This tool is ideal for preliminary testing, allowing developers to iterate rapidly without impacting the mainnet.
• Layer 2 solutions like ProtoKit and Zeko  are also encouraged to streamline system and DSL complexity to deliver scalability and high performance.

Monthly Illuminate Town Halls will kick off in May 2024 so the community can stay up-to-date on the latest Mina progress and hear from community builders who will showcase their work. This is an opportunity to learn about what’s happening in the ecosystem and collaborate with each other.

How to Get Involved in the Mina Community

Core contributors are encouraged to keep a close eye on their emails and Discord for the signal on when and how to upgrade their nodes. 

It is an incredibly exciting time to be part of the Mina community, so if you are new here, we invite you to:

• Follow @MinaProtocol on X for regular updates
• Join the Discord server for technical support and discussion
• Visit a Mina Ecosystem directory to discover what cool projects are building on Mina
• Follow the Docs Tutorial to get started building zkApps before upgrade
• Join one of Mina’s three unique ZK developer grant programs