Mina

Mina is a layer-1 blockchain whose state is compressed into a single recursive zero-knowledge proof, keeping the chain a fixed 22KB rather than growing over time as conventional chains do (the site contrasts this with roughly 300GB for other blockchains). Because the whole chain reduces to one succinct 'Proof of Everything,' any device — including phones and browsers — can join and verify the chain in milliseconds while retaining full-node security, which the project positions as a way to lower the hardware and energy barriers to consensus participation and thereby broaden decentralization [0][1][2][4][3].

On top of the base layer, Mina supports zkApps: zero-knowledge, Turing-complete programs written in TypeScript via the o1js library. zkApps allow computation to run off-chain with only a proof submitted on-chain, so user data never leaves the local device, and they are described as composable — proofs produced in one application can be reused by app-chains, roll-ups, zkVMs and L2s. Stated use cases span private identity and trustless attestations (for example proving a follower count or running auditable private elections), verifiable infrastructure, L2 and rollup scalability, and compliant DeFi such as fair lending criteria checks without exposing user data [0][1][2].

The technical stack comprises the Kimchi proof system with the Pickles recursion layer, the Ouroboros Samasika proof-of-stake consensus protocol, and the 'Snarketplace,' a marketplace in which block producers purchase completed SNARK work from SNARK workers before adding transactions to blocks [2]. The protocol implementation is written primarily in OCaml and released under Apache 2.0, and includes an implementation of the Rosetta API alongside archive-node tooling [5].