{"id":24329,"date":"2025-04-29T12:31:59","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T12:31:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=24329"},"modified":"2025-04-29T12:31:59","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T12:31:59","slug":"a16z-leads-25m-funding-for-miden-blockchain-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=24329","title":{"rendered":"A16z leads $25M funding for Miden blockchain project"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"A16z<\/p>\n

A16z Crypto led a $25 million investment round into Miden, an independent blockchain project spun out of Polygon Labs.<\/p>\n

Miden closed its $25 million seed rounds led by a16z Crypto, 1kx, and Hack VC, with participation from Finality Capital Partners, Symbolic Capital, P2 Ventures, Delta Fund, MH Ventures, as well as from angel investors, including MakerDAO\u2019s Rune Christensen and EigenLayer\u2019s Sreeram Kannan.<\/p>\n

Miden is a zero-knowledge (ZK) proof<\/a>-powered blockchain focused on high scalability through its hybrid consensus mode, which moves transaction execution from the mainnet on \u201cedge devices,\u201d referring to users\u2019 devices.<\/p>\n

Designed for institutions that value confidentiality, Miden enables applications to execute both public and private transactions with full privacy, according to an April 29 announcement shared with Cointelegraph.<\/p>\n

Execution on edge devices can help with the \u201cbottlenecks that limit traditional chains,\u201d said Bobbin Threadbare, the co-founder at Miden and former engineer at Meta, adding:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt allows blockchains to scale without relying on supernodes or sacrificing decentralization, while making privacy a built-in feature instead of an afterthought.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The $25 million will be used to fund Miden\u2019s development, and its mainnet launch is slated for the fourth quarter of 2025.<\/p>\n

Related: <\/strong><\/em>Coinbase to launch yield-bearing Bitcoin fund for institutions<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Miden is \u201cthe future of blockchains,\u201d says Polygon Labs\u2019 Nailwal<\/h2>\n

\u201cMiden is what the future of blockchains looks like. With edge execution at its core, it\u2019s not just an upgrade \u2014 it\u2019s the blueprint for the final form of blockchain architecture,\u201d according to Sandeep Nailwal, the founder of Polygon Labs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith ambitions to rival Solana, Sui, and Aptos \u2014 and to be the epicenter of crosschain liquidity for Agglayer as a native chain and help grow the Agglayer ecosystem\u2014 building independently naturally positions Miden to attract the capital and focus needed to compete at the highest level,\u201d Nailwal added.<\/p>\n

Miden plans to airdrop around 10% of its native tokens to Polygon (POL<\/a>) tokenholders and stakers to reward its native ecosystem.<\/p>\n

Related: <\/strong><\/em>BlackRock Bitcoin ETF buys $970M in BTC as inflows surge, boost market<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

No existing blockchain is ready for mass adoption: Miden co-founder<\/h2>\n

\u201cThe reality is that no existing blockchain is ready for mass adoption,\u201d either lacking privacy, scalability, or Web3-native principles such as censorship resistance, according to Miden\u2019s Threadbare.<\/p>\n

However, Miden\u2019s infrastructure may be a \u201ccatalyst for large institutional adoption,\u201d he claimed, adding:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is that up until this point, blockchains have not been in the position to offer privacy without compromising on performance or programmability, which is a major issue.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Large tech firms joining the space require privacy solutions with regulatory compliance, leaving a significant gap for solutions like Miden, added the co-founder.<\/p>\n

\"A16z
Inco: the fourth layer of the blockchain stack<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other industry watchers have also criticized the industry\u2019s lack of confidentiality for limiting institutional adoption.<\/p>\n

Confidential computing technologies such as fully homomorphic encryption could unlock the next $1 trillion<\/a> worth of capital for the crypto space with continued technological development, Remi Gai, the founder of Inco, told Cointelegraph.<\/p>\n