From December 8 – December 15, MINA token holders will be able to participate in an on-chain vote on several proposed protocol changes — a set of Mina Improvement Proposals (MIPs 6–9) that together make up the upcoming Mesa Upgrade.
Why This Vote Matters
Mina’s design has always aimed for decentralization, not only in how the network operates, but also in how decisions are made. On-chain voting is how protocol upgrades move forward, and this process depends on participation from the community. The process is open to every token holder, no matter their size, to have a direct voice in Mina’s development.
By voting, you help ensure that Mina continues to evolve in a way that reflects the interests of its users, developers, and participants. It’s also an opportunity to demonstrate how open governance can work in practice on a live, production blockchain.
What’s Being Voted On
The Mesa Upgrade introduces several technical improvements that aim to enhance network efficiency, developer usability, and future upgrade flexibility. The proposals included in this on-chain vote are:
- MIP 6 – Reduce block slot time to increase transaction throughput.
- MIP 7 – Increase on-chain state limits to allow more expressive applications and zkApps.
- MIP 8 – Increase events and actions limits to also allow for more complex applications.
- MIP 9 – Increase zkApp Account Update Limit to improve zkApp flexibility.
Together, these proposals will work to make Mina faster, smoother, and better equipped for the next wave of zk applications.
Key Dates
- Eligible Voter Snapshot: November 22, 2025 (the end of 2 epochs before the vote)
- Mina’s on-chain voting uses a snapshot taken two epochs before the voting period to prevent last-minute account creation just to vote. Your MINA simply needs to be in your wallet before the snapshot date so your account appears in the staking ledger; once the snapshot is captured, you can move your tokens again.
- Voting Period: December 8 – December 15, 2025
- The exact voting window will be:
- December 8, 2025 00:00:00 UTC, Global Slot: 264480, Epoch 37, Slot 300
- Until December 15, 2025 23:59:59 UTC (last slot of the day), Global Slot: 268319, Epoch 37, Slot 4139
Who Can Vote
Any Mina account holder who held MINA in a Mina-supported wallet (Auro, Clorio, Pallad, Ledger with Auro) at the time of the November 22 snapshot is eligible to vote.
You can participate directly from your wallet or delegate your stake to another account that votes on your behalf. You can vote whether you’re staking yourself or through a validator — no un-delegation is required to vote directly.
How to Vote
Voting on Mina is done on-chain, directly from your wallet. Each proposal (MIP) has its own keyword you’ll include in your transaction message. If you support a proposal, send a transaction with the MIP name — in Mesa’s case: MIP6, MIP7, MIP8, MIP9. If you do NOT support a proposal, send a transaction with “no” followed by the MIP name, so: no MIP6, no MIP7, no MIP8, no MIP9.
Each transaction you submit counts as your vote for or against that specific MIP.
To vote:
- Send a transaction to your own wallet with the correct keyword in the memo field. This can be a 0 Mina transaction.
- You can change your vote at any time during the voting period — only your most recent valid vote counts.
Full step-by-step instructions can be found in the On-Chain Voting FAQ.
Viewing Results
During the voting period, you can track live results through the on-chain voting dashboard, where votes are displayed in real time. Results will be finalized and published after the voting period ends on December 15. Please note that during the review period, the votes may not be visible for a few days, but can always be queried in the archive ledger by anyone at any time.
Finally, Why Participate?
Upgrades like Mesa are meaningful moments for the Mina community — and your vote helps ensure they move forward through open, collective decision-making. Active participation strengthens the network’s decentralization and demonstrates that governance on Mina works in practice.
We hope to ‘see’ you in December where your participation helps ensure that protocol upgrades, like Mesa, reflect community consensus and not just the voice of a few.
Learn More
- Read in detail about the voting process
- Read about the MIP Process
- Join the conversation on Discord and Mina Research
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.
