Miden: An Overview
Miden is a STARK-based ZK-rollup built as a programmable privacy network for Ethereum. It targets financial applications by enabling high-throughput processing, private transactions, client-side verifiable computation, and incorporates post-quantum cryptographic measures.
Quick answer
Miden is a STARK-based ZK-rollup built as a programmable privacy network for Ethereum. It targets financial applications by enabling high-throughput processing, private transactions, client-side verifiable computation, and incorporates post-quantum cryptographic measures.
Miden is a zero-knowledge rollup that uses STARK proofs and is intended to operate as a programmable privacy layer for Ethereum. The project began inside Polygon before becoming an independent initiative, and it aims to deliver high transaction throughput, confidential transfers, and verifiable computation. Its architecture is framed as an "Edge Blockchain," prioritizing client-side proof generation to strengthen user privacy and to accommodate financial applications that need both secrecy and compliance capabilities.
Overview
Miden is intended to expand Ethereum's capacity by handling large volumes of intricate transactions off-chain while producing STARK proofs that attest to their correctness on the mainnet. The project describes its mission as providing "practical privacy for the future of finance" by establishing a platform for developers and firms to deploy on-chain financial services.
Central to Miden's approach is the "Edge Blockchain" idea, which emphasizes computation performed on users' devices and gives users control over their own data. In this scheme, individuals can create proofs of their own state transitions locally, reducing the exposure of unencrypted data to centralized sequencers and improving privacy.
Miden is building its own non-EVM-compatible virtual machine, the Miden VM, which is tailored for efficient ZK-proof creation. This choice favors STARK-friendly, high-performance computation rather than direct compatibility with Ethereum tooling and Solidity. The project also includes post-quantum cryptography to mitigate long-term risks from quantum computing, and its programmable privacy features are designed to be adaptable to changing financial regulations.
History
The technical groundwork for Miden was developed by Sander Pick, a researcher who produced the core Distaff/Miden VM technology. The Miden initiative was acquired by Polygon (then known as Matic) in November 2021 as part of broader strategic moves.
That acquisition was included in a larger $400 million strategic investment by Polygon focused on ZK-based scaling solutions, with Miden becoming a notable element of the Polygon Zero collection of ZK efforts.
After the acquisition, development intensified under the direction of Project Lead Bobbin Threadbare (a pseudonym). In late 2022 and early 2023 the team released initial iterations of the Miden VM (v0.1 and v0.2), showcasing the core mechanics of the STARK-oriented virtual machine, and a technical whitepaper describing the rollup architecture followed in the second quarter of 2023.
In November 2023 Miden rolled out an initial public testnet so developers could start working with the Miden VM and its capabilities. Throughout 2024 and 2025 the project issued a series of testnet updates aimed at improving performance, adding features, and enlarging its developer tooling, while also launching a public bug bounty program and distributing grants to spur ecosystem growth.
On April 29, 2025, Miden announced that it had spun out from Polygon to operate as an independent organization; the announcement also stated that the project had closed a $25 million seed financing round to support further development.
In January 2026 Miden declared a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Korea Digital Asset (KODA), an institutional digital-asset custodian in South Korea, with the stated purpose of building privacy-preserving financial infrastructure in the region.
Technology and Architecture
Miden is implemented as a STARK-based ZK-Rollup for Ethereum. The system aggregates many transactions off-chain, constructs a single cryptographic STARK proof that attests to their correctness, and submits that succinct proof to the Ethereum mainnet. This approach minimizes on-chain data and enables elevated transaction throughput.
Miden VM
The platform's core execution environment is the Miden VM, a stack-oriented, Turing-complete virtual machine engineered specifically for the efficient creation of STARK proofs. Rather than maintaining compatibility with the EVM, Miden's custom VM is optimized for provable computation and runtime performance, a design tradeoff that forgoes direct interoperability with Ethereum's existing developer ecosystem.
According to project communications, this bespoke VM enables Miden to "push the boundaries of what is possible with provable computation and client-side validation." Developers targeting Miden use its dedicated toolchain, which includes Miden Assembly and higher-level languages that compile to Miden VM bytecode, such as Rust.
- State Model and Private Notes: The network implements an account-based state model akin to Ethereum's but augments it with private "notes" that behave similarly to UTXOs in Zcash. These notes permit assets and data to be maintained privately by users off-chain while remaining anchored by the on-chain contract; local transactions can modify this private state.
- Client-Side Proving: Individuals can produce proofs for their own transactions on their personal devices. This capability underpins Miden's privacy strategy by ensuring unencrypted transaction details do not need to be disclosed to an operator.
- Parallel Transaction Execution: Because many operations affect only a user's local state, the architecture supports processing and proving them in parallel. This parallelism boosts throughput since transactions do not have to be executed strictly in sequence unless they contend over the same state.
- Quantum Security: The project states that the network is built using post-quantum cryptography to provide long-term protection against potential threats from future quantum computers that could undermine current cryptographic primitives.
Funding
Miden disclosed a $25 million seed funding round on April 29, 2025, an announcement that coincided with its spinout from Polygon.
- a16z Crypto
- 1kx
- Hack VC
- Finality Capital
- Symbolic Capital
- Delta Fund
- MH Ventures
- P2 Ventures
Partnerships and Ecosystem
Miden maintains foundational ties to Polygon, having been developed within that ecosystem prior to its 2025 independence.
In January 2026 Miden signed an MOU with Korea Digital Asset (KODA), which is described as South Korea's leading institutional digital-asset custodian with an 80% market share in the country's institutional sector. The stated goal of the partnership is to "lay the groundwork for secure, privacy-preserving, and compliant onchain finance in Korea." A principal use case emphasized by the collaboration is creating private custody solutions on the Miden network.
To encourage developer engagement, Miden has run grants, bug bounties, and hosted events. The project scheduled its first developer gathering, "Hacker Den [01]," to be held in Dubai from February 2-6, 2026, offering builders hands-on technical workshops on the Miden stack, including a session on its Rust compiler.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Miden?
Miden is a STARK-based ZK-rollup built as a programmable privacy network for Ethereum. It targets financial applications by enabling high-throughput processing, private transactions, client-side verifiable computation, and incorporates post-quantum cryptographic measures.
How does Miden work?
Miden uses a consensus mechanism to validate and finalise transactions. Validators or node operators confirm blocks, and the network's state is updated accordingly. Users interact with Miden via wallets that support the network's RPC endpoint.
What DeFi protocols are built on Miden?
Miden hosts a growing ecosystem of DeFi applications including decentralised exchanges (DEXs), lending protocols, yield aggregators, liquid staking solutions, and stablecoins. The total value locked across these protocols can be tracked on DeFiLlama's Miden chain page.
How do I bridge assets to Miden?
Assets can be bridged to Miden via official cross-chain bridges or third-party aggregators such as Stargate, Across Protocol, or Li.Fi. Always use official or audited bridges, verify contract addresses independently, and start with a small test transfer before moving larger amounts.
What is the native token of Miden?
Miden has a native token used to pay transaction gas fees and, in many cases, participate in network governance or staking. Check the official Miden documentation for the current token ticker, total supply, and staking yield.
What are transaction fees like on Miden?
Transaction costs on Miden depend on network congestion and the complexity of the operation. Layer-2 networks typically offer significantly lower fees than Ethereum mainnet. Current gas prices can be checked via the network's block explorer or a gas tracker tool.
Is Miden compatible with Ethereum?
Yes — Miden is an Ethereum-compatible Layer-2 network. It inherits Ethereum's security guarantees and supports the same wallet addresses, token standards (ERC-20, ERC-721), and development tooling.
How fast is Miden?
Miden is designed to process transactions quickly, with block times and throughput significantly higher than Ethereum mainnet for Layer-2 solutions. Performance specifications including transactions per second (TPS) and average finality time are published in the official Miden documentation.
What makes Miden different from other blockchains?
Miden is distinguished by its specific consensus mechanism, virtual machine, developer tooling, and ecosystem focus. Key differentiators may include throughput, fee levels, decentralisation trade-offs, and the maturity of its DeFi ecosystem. Reviewing independent comparisons on DeFiLlama and Messari provides objective data.
How do I get started with Miden?
To begin using Miden, install a compatible wallet (MetaMask works for EVM-compatible chains), add the Miden network via its official RPC settings, and acquire the native token for gas. Most networks have a dedicated faucet for test tokens on their testnet. Visit the official Miden website for a step-by-step onboarding guide.