Exclusive Insights on Manta Network: A New Era in Crypto with $60.5M ICO Success
Successful ICO: Raised $60.5M, $MANTA token launched on January 18th, 2024.
Zero-Knowledge Ecosystem: Multi-modular ecosystem for easy dApp development using Solidity.
Manta Pacific & Atlantic: Launched on Ethereum for scalable, secure ZK applications and on Polkadot for programmable identities.
Strong Support: Backed by top academics and major investment firms.
User & Developer Oriented: Low fees, high scalability, privacy-focused, and developer-friendly.
The Manta Network was started back in September 2023, with their ICO for $MANTA finishing and the coin subsequently going live on January 18th, 2024. After raising $60.5M to burst onto the crypto scene in style, Manta has caught the attention and imagination of the crypto community.
In this article, we will walk you through what the Manta Network is and does from a user perspective, help developers understand its potential, explore the ecosystem, get a feel for how it is governed, and more.
What is the Manta Network?
Manta is a brand new project that launched its mainnet on the Ethereum network in September 2023. It has several outstanding features, such as fast transaction processing, low fees, and various ZK use cases. The team behind Manta is marketing it as the “Multi-modular ecosystem for zero-knowledge (ZK) applications”, which makes it a better place for the easy development and deployment of dApps (using Solidity).
Manta's mainnet, Manta Pacific, is the first-ever EVM-like ZK app platform. Manta Pacific has been described as both scalable and secure, thanks to the support of Celestia DA and Polygon zkEVM. It delivers ultra-fast transactions like an L1 and ultra-low gas fees like an L2. In addition to these features, Manta also helps in building Solidity-based decentralized applications due to its modular architecture.
Then, there’s Manta Atlantic, the fastest ZK L1 chain on Polkadot (DOT), which unites programmable identities and credentials with Web3 via zkSBTs (zero knowledge Soulbound Tokens).
Together, Manta Pacific and Manta Atlantic help to deliver the next generation of Web3 app development and adoption by supporting the progress of zero-knowledge technology.
Who is Behind Manta?
The Manta Network was founded by academics and founders from MIT, Harvard, and Algorand, and received investment capital from Binance Labs and Polychain Capital, among others. It was also part of both Alliance DAO and Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator. With so much knowledge, finance, and firepower behind it, Manta could be well-positioned to bring in the next generation of Web3 users via zkApps.
The co-founders are Kenny Li, who has an MBA from MIT and co-founded p0x labs, and Victor Ji, who has an MPA from Harvard, where he previously worked as a research assistant.
Key Qualities of Manta:
Low Fees, High Scalability
- Manta Pacific leverages Celestia and a modified OP Stack to deliver cutting-edge technical infrastructure
- The design allows for high scalability with low fees, a powerful combination
- Thanks to Universal Circuits, Manta Pacific offers a quality environment for zkApp development and deployment. This means developers can easily call ZK-enabled contracts for their existing Solidity smart contracts and dapps
For on-chain gaming, core circuit designs for Mant’s Universal Circuits include zkContracts such as zkShuffle
