Geneva, Switzerland – 10 July 2024 — Mina Foundation, a non-profit servicing zero knowledge (ZK) blockchain Mina Protocol, today announces the appointment of deep-tech lawyer and senior legal executive Daniel Schoenberger to General Counsel at Mina Foundation, effective immediately.
Schoenberger brings over two decades of legal and policy experience from across Web2 enterprise, Web3, and education sectors. Schoenberger joins Mina Foundation from the Web3 Foundation where he served as Chief Legal Officer, overseeing legal and regulatory requirements for development teams across the Polkadot ecosystem. Schoenberger led numerous public policy initiatives on behalf of Polkadot, including testifying before the United States House of Representatives on the benefits of blockchain and decentralized technology and helping to shape the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT 21).
Before his time within Web3, Schoenberger held the roles of Head of Legal Switzerland & Austria and EMEA Legal Lead for AI Policy at Google, serving as lead attorney and heading up Google’s legal department for Switzerland and Austria, as well as co-drafting Google’s AI policy.
Speaking on his appointment, Schoenberger said, “I am thrilled to join the extremely talented team at Mina Foundation at such a pivotal stage in the project’s journey. Following the completion of its recent major mainnet upgrade, Mina Protocol is poised to capitalize on years of diligent groundwork to launch programmable zero knowledge applications. Mina Protocol’s universal ZK proof layer will have a major impact on how we approach multiple areas that I have a keen interest in such as data protection, regulation, and proof of identity. Having always worked at the edge of emerging technologies, I’m excited to help Mina Foundation and the Mina Protocol community advance a new era of a secure, private, and verifiable internet.”
Coinciding with this hire, Mina Foundation is also announcing the appointment of former CEO Evan Shapiro as Chief Product and Strategy Officer (CPSO). Having moved from CEO to the roles of chairman of the board and advisor to the Mina Foundation in 2023, Shapiro will return in order to work closely with the Foundation and projects across the Mina community to help enable the growth and development of useful applications built on Mina with ZK.
Welcoming Schoenberger and commenting on his own appointment, Shapiro said, “We are thrilled to have someone of Daniel’s caliber join the Mina Foundation team. With a wealth of knowledge in key areas such as the intersection of AI and blockchain, data protection, crypto assets, and market regulation, Daniel’s experience and guidance will be invaluable in Mina Protocol’s continued journey. As I step into a more hands-on role steering ZK product development that makes an impact, momentum is building in the Mina ecosystem with users primed to experience the benefits of ZK tech for the first time in a meaningful way.”
About Mina Protocol
Mina is the world’s lightest blockchain, powered by participants. Rather than apply brute computing force, Mina uses advanced cryptography and recursive zk-SNARKs to design an entire blockchain that is about 22kb, the size of a couple of tweets. It is the first layer-1 to enable efficient implementation and easy programmability of zero knowledge smart contracts (zkApps). With its unique privacy features and ability to connect to any website, Mina is building a private gateway between the real world and crypto—and the secure, democratic future we all deserve.
