The Mina Protocol is an ultra-light blockchain: where Ethereum tops 500GB, Mina is and will remain to be 22kb. It uses zk-SNARKS to validate transactions. Mina is designed to efficiently reduce the computational power required in dApps.
MoreMina uses snarkers to approve transactions on the network. SNARK stands for Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments of Knowledge, and it only contains information from the latest blocks in the blockchain. That way, users do not have to download the entire blockchain each time a transaction needs to be approved.
MoreYou can buy Mina (MINA) at Coinmerce. Indicatie how many MINA tokens you want to buy or how much you want to spend, then click on ‘Buy’. It’s easy to pay with credit card.
MoreDo you want to buy Mina? At Coinmerce it is possible to buy Mina with credit card, SEPA, MyBank, Giropay, and Sofort. When you are logged in, you will see “Coins'' in the top menu. If you click on this, you will be taken to the page with all crypto coins that Coinmerce offers. Don't see Mina? Then use the search function to find Mina and click on it. In the right window you can indicate how much you want to spend on Mina. Below that you will see how much Mina you get for that. Have you entered the correct amount? Then click on “Buy”. It is also possible to execute a 'Stop limit order'. When you activate it, our system automatically buys Mina when the price of Mina reaches your entered value. You can also execute a repeating order. Do you want to buy Mina with another crypto coin? Then go to the crypto coin you want to pay with and select 'Swap' in the right window to indicate that you want to receive Mina.
Not only zk-SNARK ensures the security of the Mina Protocol blockchain. In fact, the network uses the Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm. This not only makes the blockchain more secure, but also ensures that even less memory and space is needed for the nodes in the network. When you want to perform a transaction over Mina Protocol, you will first need to set up a node. So, this means you can't perform a transaction without a node, which some see as a disadvantage. The advantage is that you don't have to give up much computer power to the blockchain, and you receive a reward for the computer power you give up. There are two different types of nodes that you can run within the network. The first is the block producer, which adds transactions to new blocks, thus expanding the blockchain. This is not the easiest node to run. Snark workers are nodes that are fairly easy to set up. You give some of your computing power to the blockchain's network, allowing cryptographic proofs to be developed. It does not matter which node someone sets up, because in both cases the user is rewarded with MINA tokens. The block producers will receive more tokens, as they also cede more computing power to the network.
Mina is working on an efficient distributed payment system to allow users to authenticate the platform from the first block. They themselves call it a "concise blockchain." At first it was called Coda Protocol but in October 2020 the project was rebranded to Mina Protocol. The protocol uses Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments of Knowledge (zk-SNARKs), a cryptographic proof that allows someone to verify information without revealing that information. However, in a large network, it may be impractical to allow a user to trace the platform to the starting block. Therefore, Mina computes incremental SNARKS that concentrate only on the last few blocks. This means that end users check that zk-SNARK-compressed evidence, and do not have to check the entire transaction history of a block. The Mina protocol runs on MINA, the proprietary currency, which functions as a utility token and medium of exchange.