tl;dr
Miden, a zero-knowledge-powered blockchain system, has raised $25 million to spin out from Polygon Labs and develop its own ecosystem. The funding round was led by a16z crypto, 1kx, and Hack VC, with participation from other investors and angel backers including MakerDAO co-founder Rune Christensen....
Miden, a zero-knowledge-powered blockchain system, has successfully raised $25 million to spin out from Polygon Labs and expand its own ecosystem. The funding round was led by a16z crypto, 1kx, and Hack VC, with additional participation from Finality Capital Partners, Symbolic Capital, P2 Ventures, and angel investors including MakerDAO co-founder Rune Christensen, Aptos CEO Avery Ching, and EigenLayer founder Sreeram Kannan.
The raised capital will support the development of the Miden protocol, an independent project derived from Polygon Miden, a zero-knowledge (ZK) optimized rollup designed to enhance Ethereum's scalability and privacy. This ZK rollup technology bundles transactions off-chain to improve processing efficiency while leveraging cryptographic proofs to keep underlying transaction data confidential, benefiting institutional clients with robust privacy-preserving features.
By focusing on privacy and scalability, Miden aims to distinguish itself from other decentralized platforms and compete with major blockchain networks like Solana, Sui, and Aptos. Polygon Labs founder Sandeep Nailwal highlighted that operating independently positions Miden to attract capital and sharpen its competitive edge.
The funding will also finance an incentive program for early protocol adopters and help build vital infrastructure including wallets, wallet adapters, and bridges. Additionally, the team plans to expand from 17 to 25 members to boost marketing efforts and accelerate ecosystem growth.
Miden is currently in its final alpha testnet phase with a planned mainnet launch later this year. The protocol will integrate with Polygon's AggLayer, a network aggregating layer-1 and layer-2 chains with shared liquidity. Future plans include an airdrop allocating 10% of Miden’s native token supply to ecosystem stakers and holders of Polygon’s POL token.
The spinout and fundraising come amid growing institutional interest in decentralized finance (DeFi). A recent EY Parthenon survey revealed 24% of institutional investors are already engaged in DeFi, with half of those not currently involved planning to enter the space within two years. DeFi protocols recently reached near-record total-value locked levels of approximately $250 billion, underscoring the momentum in this sector.