Mina Protocol — a blockchain project building a gateway between the real world and crypto — is playing a key role in the advancement, scalability, and security of smart contracts.
In this article, we’ll have a look at how they’re doing that and how it greatly benefits you as a user of these self-governing contracts.
How Mina Protocol Is Revolutionizing Smart Contacts
Smart contracts were first popularized by the Ethereum network, but its blockchain as well as its fellow early ecosystems became plagued over time with the inability to properly meet the growing challenges of upscaling. Thus, all miners and nodes on the network have to run the exact same calculation to verify the execution of a dApp, which is, in turn, neither energy-efficient nor scalable. Another problem with early blockchain ecosystems is that they often fail to ensure anonymity levels commonly expected from crypto.
Mina Protocol addresses those problems using zero-knowledge proofs at the core of its architecture.
zkApps & Zero-Knowledge Smart Contracts
Zero-knowledge tech is driving the next wave of scalable blockchain solutions, according to Messari’s latest Crypto Theses, and Mina is leading the way with zk-SNARKs—the protocol’s zero-knowledge technology that powers their zkApps (zero-knowledge apps).
Mina zkApps are more scalable and private versions of the dApps that can prove any information they process is valid without the need to expose anything beyond strictly necessary. They address the scalability issues found in most dApps by ensuring a zkApp is only executed once by its creator, and all nodes thereafter simply validate the proof associated with it.
Mina Smart Contracts Have Powerful Use Cases
Decentralized applications can be used for a number of things from social media platforms to gaming, decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, crypto wallets, marketplaces, and much more. Mina’s zk-SNARK-powered zkApps are highly scalable, secure, and private. This makes them a viable contender as the future of decentralized applications
Here are a few use cases of zkApps moving the functionality of dApps one step further.
End-to-End Data Privacy
Crypto projects today operate solely on the blockchain (on-chain), which means they have no way to leverage the online presence of billions of people without exposing their information for anyone, including cybercriminals, to see. Mina solves this problem by delivering tools that allow for the safe transfer of data online to on-chain. For example, US-based zkApp users can prove they have a certain credit score to a requester without ever sharing the actual credit score or exposing their Social Security Number during the process.
Permissionless Web Oracles
Mina allows web oracles to be both permissionless and verifiable, which is something unique to Mina Protocol. For example, you can import any information that is publicly available on the web without needing a website’s permission, and the network can verify and prove that the information is accurately sourced. One example highlighted here is that you can have a smart contract that mints an NFT once a Twitter post reaches a predefined number of likes because the network can automatically verify the information is true without having an agreement with Twitter.
Access Web Services Without Handing Over Your Data
Another powerful use case of Mina zkApps is that you can access websites without handing over your sensitive data since you can log into a site with Mina but retain complete privacy of your data. You simply create zkApp-based login accounts on Mina using your email, and then the zkApp will prove to any website that you own the actual email without ever revealing your actual address.
Conclusion
Zero-knowledge apps can become the next step in enhancing the security and privacy of decentralized solutions. With privacy online remaining a vital concern for billions of users, zkApps can offer a serious alternative to the existing solutions in the area and drive crypto acceptance further
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With all the incredible things Mina is doing with smart contracts and zkApps, they are building a gateway between crypto and the real world. Check out the Everstake blog to learn more about Mina Protocol and how you can participate in the network and earn rewards.
