MinaFoundation

Mina Foundation has announced key leadership and structural changes, marking a significant shift in the protocol’s governance and development strategy. As part of this transition, o1Labs the company that originally built Mina Protocol will now take full responsibility for the technical roadmap. Meanwhile, the Mina Foundation will focus on decentralized governance and treasury management. This realignment is expected to enhance efficiency, scalability, and long-term sustainability within the Mina ecosystem.
Key Leadership and Structural Updates
o1Labs, the creator of Mina Protocol, will now officially lead the protocol’s technical development. Having pioneered Mina’s succinct blockchain design and recursive zero-knowledge proofs, o1Labs is uniquely positioned to drive the next phase of innovation.Josh Cincinnati has been appointed as the interim CEO and President of the Board for Mina Foundation. With a background that includes leading the Zcash Foundation and the Interchain Foundation (Cosmos ecosystem), Josh brings extensive experience in ecosystem governance and decentralization.The Mina Foundation will shift its focus to decentralized treasury management and governance. This ensures that ecosystem development aligns with the principles of decentralization and long-term sustainability.Kurt Hemecker (former CEO) and Evan Shapiro (Founder) have stepped down from their roles.
These changes reinforce a more streamlined approach, bringing the protocol’s core technology back under the leadership of the team that originally built it while advancing governance decentralization.
Technical Roadmap: A More Unified Vision
Mina Protocol was designed not just as a programmable blockchain, but as a Succinct Settlement Layer capable of verifying the entire blockchain ecosystem with a single proof.
As the demand for efficient blockchain verification increases, many protocols including Ethereum are working towards single-proof validation models. However, Mina already achieves this through its unique succinct design. The realignment of technical leadership under o1Labs is expected to accelerate the protocol’s evolution in key areas:
Scalability: Applications operating in various execution environments will be able to settle transactions on Mina with a single recursive proof.Cost efficiency: Off-chain computation and succinct proofs will reduce transaction costs while maintaining security and decentralization.Interoperability: Mina’s ability to verify entire blockchain states with a single proof strengthens its role as a universal settlement layer.
With o1Labs leading the technical roadmap, the protocol can move faster, address past challenges more effectively, and fully realize its potential as the most advanced settlement layer in Web3.
What This Means for the Mina Ecosystem
The return of o1Labs to technical leadership marks an important milestone. As the team that originally built Mina, o1Labs has the expertise and vision to push the protocol forward with a more cohesive strategy. Meanwhile, the Mina Foundation’s focus on decentralized treasury management ensures a long-term, community-driven approach to governance.
This transition sets the stage for a more efficient and scalable Mina Protocol, reinforcing its position as a leader in zk technology and decentralized settlement layers. Further updates will follow as the ecosystem progresses toward this next phase of development.
o1Labs and Mina’s Unique Design: The Team Behind It Steps Up Again
Mina’s succinct, zk-native design has been a pioneering approach in blockchain scalability, originally developed by o1Labs. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently highlighted Mina’s architecture, stating:
"There are other projects like Mina … that are trying to make ZK-friendly, yet minimal, simple, beautiful L1s from scratch."
He also referenced Ethereum’s Beam Chain proposal, which aims to transition Ethereum toward a Mina-like succinct structure over the next five years.
While others are working toward this vision, Mina has already achieved it. Now, with o1Labs officially taking on the responsibility of Mina’s technical roadmap, the protocol is set to advance even further.
Having the team that originally built this architecture now leading its future development ensures that Mina will continue pushing the boundaries of scalability, cost efficiency, and decentralization, reinforcing its role as a cutting-edge zk settlement layer.

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