Lightweight blockchain Mina launches a three-month zkIgnite Cohort 1 aimed at helping developers and entrepreneurs build applications on Mina. The Mina Foundation provides up to 500,000 USDC and 500,000 MINA to fund zkApp (zero-knowledge smart contract) businesses and key developer tools that will ultimately drive the Mina ecosystem forward. Mina, an encryption protocol for lightweight blockchains, was developed by O(1) Labs, a leading team in the field of verifiable computing, using cryptography and recursive zero-knowledge proof zk-SNARKs to design a complete blockchain whose size can maintain About 22KB, and increase the speed of verifying the current blockchain state.