Mina Foundation Product Priorities Q4 2024

It’s been quite a year for Mina. Thanks to the collaboration of everyone in the Mina ecosystem, the Berkeley upgrade in June went smoothly, ushering in a new era of programmability on Mina. As the dust has settled on the hard fork, we’re excited to share the invaluable community feedback we’ve received and how that feedback has informed the Mina Foundation’s product priorities over the next six months.

Through Discord and Twitter, through Core Grants and Navigators, we’ve heard a range of voices—from those building support for new elliptic curves in o1js to those pioneering the future of identity on a Protokit appchain. From all of the voices, and through all the excitement, three major themes have emerged that are driving Mina Foundation’s product roadmap forward.

This list just represents a few priority projects directly funded by the Mina Foundation. Note there are many other projects being developed independently within the ecosystem.

Make it easier to build complex apps on Mina.

For cryptographers, those looking to build bespoke circuits, o1js is an incredible framework. But for those building complex applications with shared state, or those more familiar with smart contract development, the concurrency and storage challenges posed by Mina’s distributed computation model make development difficult which can slow progress, make coding less fun, and impact the user experience.

Protokit: This development framework for appchains on Mina, built on top of o1js, is set to transform the way complex apps are built. It will solve concurrency issues for applications with shared state through a novel hybrid execution orchestration. An alpha version will be released by the end of October including the ability to author custom runtime modules, orchestrate execution with an appchain sequencer, bridge tokens from the L1, and settle transactions to it. A security audit will be kicked off in November.

Build key Web3 Infrastructure and standards essential to reach scale.

The fungible token standard was a welcome development but is just the start. Web3 builders today expect an NFT standard, a token bridge to other chains, a DEX, a token launchpad, and more. These capabilities are table stakes for user acquisition, fundraising, and a sustainable business model.

Ethereum Token Bridge: The first version will support bridging wrapped ETH. Different from the state bridge being worked on by Lambda Class / Aligned Layer, this will be a token bridge for bringing ETH liquidity to Mina to swap on a DEX. The bridge is expected to go live in December 2024.

DEX: A DEX is essential to support token adoption on Mina. Lumina is in active development on a white label DEX and a new, yet to be announced project, is taking over the Kaupang DEX code base originally built by the Protokit team and bringing it to market. This transition allows the Protokit team to concentrate on getting Protokit ready for mainnet. It’s expected a DEX will launch on the Mina L1 in January 2025 and on an L2/appchain in March 2025.

Private Credentials API: This API will provide a standardized interface for issuing credentials and proving attestations of private credentials to verifiers. This will unlock a new type of sovereign digital data across a range of verticals. It is expected to be ready for mainnet in February 2025.

NFT Standard: Similar to the fungible token standard, the NFT standard will provide a canonical implementation of NFTs on Mina. Building off the work done for MinaNFT, the standard should be security-audited and ready for mainnet in December 2024.

Launchpad: A first token launchpad on Mina will simplify the minting and distribution of fungible tokens, making it easier for projects to launch tokens on Mina. Several community launchpads are in development – Mina Token Manager, Auxo, DFST’s launchpad, and Doot to name a few. The first launchpad should be ready in January 2025.

Support builders in acquiring end-users.

From the wallet experience to the lack of mobile support, it’s difficult to onboard users and engage them. To create a thriving ecosystem of projects that can attract and retain users, it’s essential to streamline the user experience and offer user incentives.

Mobile Proving: The importance of mobile should be no surprise, and indeed it’s the most requested feature from the community. While cloud-based proving is an acceptable workaround in the short term, true privacy and sovereignty can only be achieved through client-side mobile proving. Android webview and native apps should be available by February 2025.

User Growth Incentives: In the same way we’ve bootstrapped developer growth through Navigators grants, bootstrapping user growth will require similar user incentives. The plan is to launch a pilot user incentive program to encourage weekly active account growth shortly after the new year. Based on the results, more tailored programs supporting usage of applications built on Mina will be planned in Q1 and Q2 2025.

Wallet API: To accelerate app and wallet development, we’re introducing a standardized Javascript API for wallet interactions. The Mina JS is expected to be ready shortly after the new year.

So why are we doing this? What is the ‘end game’?

Mina Protocol is uniquely positioned to become the foundational layer for the private, provable web. The mission is to pave the way for a privacy-preserving internet that can be easily verified by anyone from any device with just a click. As we enter the post-hard fork era, we see this as a new beginning for Mina. Delivering on these core platform capabilities will put Mina in a much better position to drive a step-change in builder and user growth in Q1 and Q2 2025. 

In order to achieve this, we aspire for Mina to be a leading ZK platform for developers, equipping them with the right tools and support to create groundbreaking applications while attracting end-users. The Mina Foundation looks forward to continuing its work with the Mina community, soliciting feedback on what’s working well and what’s not, and positioning for a new era of growth in 2025.