*Please note that each ecosystem roadmap update may contain forecasts, projections, targets or other forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the relevant ecosystem partner’s estimates and assumptions based on information available at the time such update is made. Accordingly, plans, goals and other statements may not be realized as described, and actual results may differ materially from those presented in such an update. In addition, the Mina Foundation is not responsible for updates made by community contributors or ecosystem partners, whose work is important to the development of the Mina ecosystem and is independent from any of the initiatives that the Mina Foundation is working on.
Mina Ecosystem Roadmap
| Project | Description | Team | Estimated Completion Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Improve Node Stability | Make node operation more stable. (Example project: BitSwap) | o1Labs | Ongoing – groundwork for BitSwap to be included in Berkeley hardfork |
| zkApps Builders Program | Program to educate, support, and work with developers who are building zkApps, and enlist their help to improve zkApps and o1js (formerly SnarkyJS). | o1Labs | Cohort 2 started September 13th. |
| Document Mina’s crypto libraries and curve points | Package Mina’s proof system to be easily adopted by other ZKP-enabled products. | o1Labs | Q2 2022 – Completed last quarter, see Mina Book. |
| New Uptime Tracking System | A new uptime tracker to accurately reflect validators’ uptime for participating in the delegation program. | ONTAB | Q2 2022 – Completed and shared with community in July, see Discord announcement. |
| zkApps Software Development Kit (SDK) | Provide the toolkit that developers need to build on Mina: o1js (formerly SnarkyJS) & zkApp CLI. | o1Labs | Both o1js (formerly SnarkyJS) and the zkApp CLI were available from Q2 2022, but work continues to refine the tooling and user experience. |
| zkApps Testing | This is a series of phases to test the stability of zkApps on a network. Updated to: Initial Testing → Berkeley QANet → Berkeley Testnet Alpha→ Berkeley Incentivized Testnet | o1Labs | Berkeley Testnet Alpha planned for Q3 2022. Berkeley Incentivized Testnet will follow upon the successful completion of Testnet Alpha. |
| Non-Native Token Support | Enable creation of non-native tokens on Mina (similar to ERC20). | o1Labs | Q3 2022 – will be included as part of Berkeley Testnet Alpha |
| Easy zkApps Programmability on Mainnet | Enable easy programmability and basic use cases of zkApps on Mina Mainnet. | o1Labs | Once Berkeley Incentivized Testnet has successfully concluded |
| On-Chain Signaling – NEW | Feature to enable Mina holders to signal their support (on-chain) for proposed hard forks and other Mina changes. | Granola Systems | Q3 2022 |
| Non-Consensus Nodes | An additional implementation of Mina Protocol in Rust, providing direct access to the Mina network for web and mobile nodes, without needing to run a consensus node. | Chainsafe (to be transferred to another engineering team) | Q3 2022 – Partial proof of concept delivered Q4 2022 – Current form running on testnet |
| zkBridge | Make zkApps accessible from Ethereum, as well as other EVM compatible chains. | =nil; Foundation | Q4 2022 |
| Enable 3rd-party, off-chain usage of Mina’s proof system | Enable zero-knowledge (ZK) enthusiasts to adopt Mina’s proof system without having to use the Mina chain. | o1Labs | Q4 2022 |
| Multi-Environment Setup | Upgrade infrastructure to support more networks running in parallel for Mina. Enable community to run their own networks. | o1Labs | Q4 2022 |
| zkOracles | This has been updated to two phases (see more details below). | o1Labs | Phase 1: Q4 2022 Phase 2: Q1 2023 |
| zkRollup on Mina – NEW | Increase transaction throughput on Mina using a modular zkRollup, called zkFusion – first stage is a proof of concept. | Trivo#0001 | Q4 2022 |
Update on Ecosystem Roadmap Projects
New Uptime Tracking System
On July 1, the new Uptime Tracking System for the Mina Foundation Delegation Program, which had been worked on by ecosystem partner OnTab, was announced on Discord. The beta release displays uptime scores for the Delegation Program based on the newly implemented SNARK-work-based uptime tracker. The new uptime leaderboard can be accessed here.
In addition, OnTab also published the SNARK-based uptime tracking system API, which aids community members and ecosystem partners in accessing data from the new uptime tracking system and allows such data to be incorporated into tools and services.
zkApps Software Development Kit (SDK)
o1Labs’ zkApps Product Engineering team added multiple major features to o1js (formerly SnarkyJS) during Q3: Recursion (a.k.a. proof composition) to leverage Mina’s infinite recursive ability, zkApps composability to allow a zkApp to invoke a method on another zkApp, events, & payments to allow a zkApp to send MINA to other Mina accounts or zkApps.
For those willing to live on the edge, the o1Labs team also enabled a few experimental API’s: Merkle tree, custom tokens, & actions & reducers (a.k.a. sequence events). “Experimental” indicates that these methods are highly likely to be changed and improved. These APIs will be moved out of the experimental namespace when the designs have reached relative stability.
zkApps Testing
The plan was originally to ship the Berkeley Incentivized Testnet phase of zkApps Testing before the end of Q2, but due to a number of bugs that showed up during development, the estimated delivery timeline for the first phase of testnet has been updated to Q3. The o1Labs team is fixing the final bugs that have showed up in unit tests and the QANet. The plan is to ship a Berkeley Testnet Alpha in September, which will give the opportunity for some initial testing before the Incentivized Testnet begins later.
Easy zkApps Programmability on Mainnet
Work continues to enable easy zkApps programmability on Mainnet. We are starting to see a lot of new zkApps being built on the Mina network, including zkPOAPs and the interactive Canvas zkApp. You can also see a community-curated directory showing some zkApps within the ecosystem here.
On-Chain Signaling – NEW
This project is being developed by Granola Systems. It is open source software that does 2 things. First, it connects to an existing Mina archive node to query Mina blockchain state data to fulfill queries on the RESTful web interface. The queries give JSON data that describe the on-chain signals (specially constructed memo fields on transactions) in support of or against known proposals. Second, it supplies a web front-end to visualize the status of the signaling process (a results page for each signal). This MPL2-licensed software can be used by other developers to report on the signaling results in a decentralized way. The On-Chain Signaling project will be used to gauge support for the upcoming hardfork on the testnet in Q3/Q4 2022.
Non-Consensus Nodes
The non-consensus node project to add an additional implementation of Mina Protocol in Rust has been worked on by Chainsafe and a partial proof of concept has been completed. Another engineering team is now taking over the project. To see the project in its current state, check out the Github repo.
zkBridge
Q2 brought the in-EVM state proof verification proof generator to the auditable state along with all the circuits necessary. Q3, according to security auditors ABDK Consulting, is supposed to bring the proof generator audit results which would result in Mina’s auxiliary state proof to be published at =nil;’s proof market which would enable users to retrieve and submit Mina’s state proof.
The verification component strongly depends on the circuit’s readiness because it is being generated from its definitions on the proof generation side. That means the verification part is supposed to come ready for the audit after the proof generation part circuits and proof system implementation audit is done. The sequential nature of the overall solution components results in potential timings increase and is dependent entirely on progression of the security audit.
Enable 3rd-party, off-chain usage of Mina’s proof system
Originally planned for Q3, this is now a project targeting delivery in Q4 2022 due to higher impact priorities in o1Labs’ o1js (formerly SnarkyJS) roadmap.
zkOracles
For context, zkOracles refers to the capability to connect real world data to blockchain in a trustless way, using HTTPs. Originally scoped to be only a Minimally Viable Product (MVP), the o1Labs team has expanded the approach to be 2 phases:
- Phase 1 (Q4 2022): Deliver a short-term solution for incorporating off-chain data into zkApps
- Phase 2 (Q1 2023): Identify a 256x more performant Multi-Party Computation (MPC) design for zkOracles using interactive zero knowledge proofs.
zkRollup on Mina – NEW
Longtime community member Trivo#0001 has started zkFusion, a modular zkRollup of Mina Protocol:
I have actively started working on a rollup to help scale Mina and provide a framework to developers to help them support their work on application specific rollups. The work on the first stage, a proof of concept, has been completed and will be deployed to the QANet as soon as its back up. The proof of concept includes basic rollup functionalities like depositing and withdrawing from/to the layer 1 contract and transferring MINA on the layer 2. If both the proof of concept and the QANet are stable enough, I plan on deploying a public test version that allows everyone interested in it to play around with it.
In the following weeks and months, focus will be on increasing throughput and supporting both basic and advanced zkApp features as well as increasing stability and making the system more robust.
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.
