Mina (MINA) Price Chart

If you’re looking to buy and sell crypto, you may already be aware that the crypto world is as exciting as it is continuously evolving. New coins/tokens seem to appear almost daily. On this occasion, we’re turning our attention to the Mina Protocol, including exploring what it is, how it works, where to acquire it, and info on the MINA token stock price. Let’s begin.

What is Mina (MINA)?

The Mina Protocol is a minimalistic blockchain project designed to streamline computational requirements, and enable decentralized applications (dApps) to run more efficiently. 

Thanks to the network’s unique design, which allows its size to remain constant despite growth in usage, Mina is often described as the world’s “lightest” blockchain. Case in point, Mina’s network size comprises only 22 KB, compared to Bitcoin’s 300 GB blockchain.

The Mina Protocol’s native currency, MINA, functions as a medium of exchange and a utility coin. (Hint: you may want to check current crypto prices, including MINA’s, as they continuously change.) 

In October 2020, the project was rebranded from Coda Protocol to Mina, and remains balanced in terms of decentralization and security.

Mina history

While we’re not in the business of making MINA price predictions, let’s take a look at its historical beginnings. 

The origins of this project date back to mid-2017, when Evan Shapiro and Izaak Meckler wanted to create a protocol that could simultaneously be scalable and decentralized. At the time, Izaak was studying cryptography at Berkeley for a PhD, and learning about Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments of Knowledge (zkSNARKs).

The founders’ thesis argued that end-users frequently encountered difficulties accessing Ethereum without needing to trust a third-party running a full node. In terms of app development, Ethereum developers typically use services such as Alchemy or Infura. (Looking to buy Bitcoin? Phew! Don’t even get us started on BTC tech speak!) 

The development firm behind Mina, O(1) Labs, considered these services to be centralization points with two distinct downsides. Not only did they believe such services made the underlying blockchain less trustworthy, but also that these conditions created a less-than-ideal developer experience and user interface. To ensure anyone could run a full node, the team wanted to keep storage costs on Mina low. 

To reach consensus, Mina uses an Ouroboros Samasika proof of stake (PoS) mechanism. It builds off prior work published by IOHK, one of the companies developing Cardano. Its design aims to enable anyone to participate proportionally to the amount of stake in the protocol. To facilitate such a high level of inclusivity, bandwidth requirements were designed to accommodate home computers and personal retail devices. 

However, the Corda blockchain developer R3 filed a lawsuit against O(1) Labs on October 24, 2019, over the Coda Protocol name. The lawsuit stated that the name was too similar to R3’s Corda trademark. O(1) Labs rebranded the network to Mina on September 29, 2020, in light of the lawsuit.

Who are the founders of MINA?

Evan Shapiro and Izaak Meckler are the founders of the Mina Protocol. 

They believed that Mina had a chance of succeeding as a payments blockchain platform, a use-case numerous other blockchains have failed to fulfill. (Something to note if you’re only just dipping your toes in crypto waters and looking to buy Ethereum.) Their founding goal was to make Mina more accessible to developers, by potentially empowering them to run a full node inside of an IoT device or web app. 

How MINA works

In a sense, Mina can be described as a blockchain project that employs various aspects of Bitcoin and Ethereum. On the one hand, apart from how it handles transactions, Mina is largely similar to Bitcoin. On the other hand, it also features the account model used in Ethereum.

More precisely, when discussing these particular aspects, the main difference between Ethereum and Bitcoin is that the state of the Ethereum blockchain is made up of account balances, whereas Bitcoin’s contains a list of unspent coins. 

Conversely, Mina uses a prover (or “snarker”, as they’re popularly called), which is the equivalent of a miner, for the purpose of ensuring each block commits to the state of the network. 

The previously mentioned Ouroboros Samasika PoS mechanism is specially designed for succinct (minimalistic) decentralized networks . Regardless, the two major functions of succinct blockchains are verification and updates.

The verification function touches on blocks, blockchain summary and consensus, and the update function interacts with chain summary and consensus. 

Additionally, the Mina Protocol optimizes transaction processing speed by using a parallel scan state. This works by grouping unproven blocks, and assigning the process to parallel provers. 

Current MINA price index

Most crypto enthusiasts tend to initially focus on the MINA historical price or the Mina price over time. However, the prices of most cryptocurrencies change continuously. Such changes mean that keeping track of the market is the most surefire way of identifying potential opportunities to acquire or sell one’s holdings. 

When doing your crypto due diligence, having a one-stop shop for all necessary price information can help save time and precious effort. In that regard, CEX.IO is a comprehensive ecosystem of crypto products and services. Our award-winning Spot Trading platform empowers you to keep track of price charts for various cryptocurrencies around the clock.

As a definitive resource for all things crypto-related, you can trade numerous coins and tokens on our platform, including some of the biggest names in the game. Buy, sell, and trade Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), Bitcoin (BTC), and 300+ other cryptocurrencies (including MINA).

CEX.IO makes it possible for you to check the current MINA price, learn how to acquire MINA coins, convert BTC to USD, and numerous other crypto transactions.

MINA price history

The Mina Protocol was founded in mid-2017 by Evan Shapiro and Izaak Meckler under the name “Coda Protocol.” 

The protocol aims to achieve an efficient distributed payment system that makes it possible for users to natively verify the platform right from the genesis block. In its technical whitepaper, such a payment system is referred to as a “succinct blockchain.”

Consequently, this cryptocurrency reached an all-time high (ATH) of $9.09 on May 31, 2021. Conversely, its all-time low (ATL) of $0.351341 occurred on October 10, 2023. Mina’s market cap as of December 7, 2023, is $744,388,230, with a circulating supply of 1,013,362,046 MINA coins. 

Where to buy MINA

MINA is readily available via numerous reputable crypto platforms. At CEX.IO, eligible participants can buy, sell, and trade MINA with USD, EUR, and USDT in only a few straightforward steps. But, before we get into the “how,” let’s dig a little deeper into the “why.” 

CEX.IO has been welcoming crypto enthusiasts since 2013, and has served more than six million users to date. Such a longstanding reputation as one of the most reliable ecosystems of crypto products and services makes our platform the best and most straightforward choice for all things crypto-related. 

Therefore, selecting CEX.IO for your crypto transactions is an excellent way to get the best of both worlds: acquiring coins of this unique crypto project on a best-in-class, user-centric platform. 

You can buy Bitcoin with a bank account, buy Bitcoin with Apple Pay, and sell various cryptocurrencies via the CEX.IO Wallet. Also, you can trade more than 300 cryptocurrencies on our award-winning Spot Trading platform. Thanks to deep liquidity, multiple sub-accounts, advanced order types, and more, CEX.IO makes accessing crypto effortless and intuitive. 

We have a proven track record of success and putting users first. These aspects make our ecosystem the ultimate choice for accessibility to a broad spectrum of crypto transactions, and freely-available industry knowledge courtesy of CEX.IO University. 

How to buy MINA at CEX.IO

When it comes to how to buy USDT, buy Dogecoin, buy BNB, MINA, or any of the numerous cryptocurrencies available in our ecosystem, the process is straightforward. Most crypto coins and tokens on our platform are available for purchase through several widespread payment methods, including:

• Credit/Debit cards
• Bank (wire) transfers
• E-wallets

You can buy MINA at CEX.IO through the Instant Buy service, and our Wallet product. In fact, eligible users can choose to buy crypto with PayPal platform-wide, including MINA.

How to buy MINA with CEX.IO Instant Buy service

Using the Instant Buy service requires the following steps:

• Log into your CEX.IO account (or create one and get verified);
• Hover your cursor over the Products tab on the homepage;
• Select Instant Buy from the For Everyone column in the drop-down menu;
• In the Buy cryptocurrency window, click on the drop-down arrow below the You receive field and select MINA from the list of available currencies;
• In the You pay field to the right, select your fiat currency of choice, and enter the amount you’d like to spend on acquiring MINA coins;
• Click on the Buy button to the right of the You pay field;
• You’ll be taken to the Add Funds window, where you’ll need to click the Select Payment Method button;
• Confirm the purchase by following the instructions provided on the screen.

How to buy Mina with CEX.IO Wallet

Buying MINA using your CEX.IO Wallet is just as intuitive, and includes the steps below:

• Log into your CEX.IO account;
• Hover your cursor over the Products tab on the homepage;
• Click on Wallet;
• You’ll arrive at the Wallet dashboard. Scroll down and select MINA from the list of available cryptocurrencies;
• Choose between Add Funds or Convert buttons;
• If you choose Add Funds, the remaining steps are the same as for Instant Buy. If you choose Convert, simply select the currency to spend and click the Convert button.

FAQ

What is the MINA coin?

The MINA coin is the Mina Protocol’s native currency. This coin functions as a medium of exchange and a utility coin.

Who are the major Mina Protocol participants?

Verifiers, block producers, and snarkers are the three major roles in the Mina protocol. Verifiers interact with zk-SNARKs that deal with certifying the consensus information. Block producers are stakers or miners who earn block rewards and transaction fee payments. Snarkers (provers) produce zk-SNARKs used in verifying transactions. 

Why choose CEX.IO to buy MINA?

CEX.IO is an ecosystem of crypto products and services in existence since 2013. Its trustworthiness and reliability is evidenced by the fact that it thrived in a competitive industry through numerous crypto storms and bear markets. Thanks to its PCI DSS-compliant platform, it is recognized globally and operates in numerous countries worldwide.