Manta Network: The Multi-Modular Ecosystem for ZK Apps

What Is Manta Network?

Manta Network is a multi-modular ecosystem designed for zero-knowledge (ZK) applications, setting the standard for innovative and secure decentralized solutions. It has two networks: Manta Atlantic (a Layer 1) and Manta Pacific, an Ethereum Layer 2 with plans to transition to be the first zkEVM built on Celestia utilizing the Polygon CDK.

Key Takeaways

• Manta Network uses a dual-blockchain approach; Manta Pacific and Manta Atlantic.

• Manta Atlantic provides a secure and customizable environment for applications demanding ultimate security, including private smart contracts.

• Manta Pacific also offers an programmable zero knowledge development environment an EVM-native Layer 2, with the goal of providing high scalability and low transaction fees for ZK applications. 

The promise of blockchain technology lies in its ability to democratize finance and information, but concerns around privacy remain a nagging undercurrent. 

As transactions on public blockchains are inherently transparent, users risk exposing their financial activities and sensitive information. Manta Network is positioning itself as a groundbreaking blockchain ecosystem designed to break this trade-off. There are two chains on Manta Network: Manta Atlantic, a ZK Layer 1 chain, and Manta Pacific, a Layer 2 built on Ethereum.

Manta Pacific leverages modular architecture, where Celestia acts as the data availability (DA) layer. It is also building out an accessible zero knowledge (ZK) development environment and plans to transition to a zkEVM utilizing Polygon CDK, and will empower users to reclaim their financial freedom without sacrificing the transparency and security of blockchain technology.

In this article, we will explore what Manta Network is all about, get an insight into Its products, and understand Manta Wallets. 

Understanding Manta Network

Manta Network isn't just one chain, it is a multi-dimensional ecosystem offering solutions for a variety of needs. At its core lies Manta Pacific, a high-performance Layer 2 solution built on Celestia. With the help of ZK-SNARKs, Manta Pacific offers blazing-fast transaction speeds and drastically reduced gas fees, making it ideal for scaling privacy-preserving dApps. Manta Atlantic, on the other hand, is a Layer 1 blockchain designed for applications requiring ultimate security and customization.

Manta Network envisions becoming the leading ecosystem for privacy-preserving applications on blockchains. Its mission is to empower individuals and developers with tools and technologies that safeguard financial privacy and enable secure, confidential interactions on any blockchain.

The Manta Network Team

The formidable team driving Manta Network has years of expertise in numerous sectors in and around the fintech space; the combined expertise stands as one of the reasons for Manta Network's $500 valuation.

The Manta Network team includes the following key personnel:

• Kenny Li: Co-founder, MIT alum in Business Administration, bringing top-tier education and strategic vision. 

• Victor Ji: Co-founder, Harvard alum in Public Administration, contributing invaluable expertise and leadership. 

• Shumo Chu: Co-founder, UC Santa Barbara Assistant Professor, Algorand Systems researcher, collaborating with crypto's finest minds, including Turing Award winners.

Layers of the Manta Network

To understand the network and its functioning thoroughly, you must also learn about its two key components/layers; Manta Pacific, and Manta Atlantic.

Manta Pacific: Unlocking the Power of L2

Manta Pacific is an innovative Layer 2 ecosystem on Ethereum tailored for EVM-native ZK applications. It delivers a scalable and cost-effective gas-fee environment, simplifying the deployment of ZK applications with Solidity.

Manta Pacific thrives on the foundation of L2 technology, specifically leveraging the combined power of Celestia and the Optimism Stack. This approach offers a potent cocktail of benefits:

• Scalability: By offloading transaction processing from the main blockchain (L1), L2 networks alleviate congestion and enable significantly faster transaction speeds. 

• Reduced Fees: The scalability gains translate to lower transaction fees, making Manta Pacific accessible to a wider user base and fostering micro-economies and innovative use cases.

• Easy Deployment of ZK Applications: Manta Pacific uses Manta Network's Network's Universal Circuits to enable developers to create ZK-enabled apps using Solidity and the Universal Circuits SDK, ensuring EVM compatibility by using the OP Stack Bedrock codebase.

• Seamless Integration: Compatibility with existing Ethereum smart contracts empowers developers to readily migrate their dApps to Manta Pacific, capitalizing on its speed and privacy advantages without facing major technical hurdles.

Manta Network's Universal Circuits

According to Manta Network, currently there is no dedicated platform for EVM-native zero knowledge applications. To make it easier for developers to implement ZK technology, Manta Network developed Universal Circuits, a library of zero knowledge circuits designed for general use cases, allowing Solidity developers to enable ZK features in their applications with a few lines of code. These include compliant private payments for DeFi, identity verification for web3 social platforms, and even privacy-preserving shuffling for on-chain gaming. 

Manta Atlantic: Unveiling the L1 Advantage

Manta Atlantic is a fast and decentralized ZK Layer 1 (L1), supporting modular on-chain compliance identities. It houses core technologies like zkNFTs, staking, and ecosystem projects, providing seamless access to potent ZK-enabled use cases.

While L2 offers scalability and EVM-compatibility, L1 remains the foundational layer of the blockchain, responsible for securing the network and ensuring data integrity. Manta Atlantic, the L1 component of Manta Network, brings its own set of advantages:

• Customization Haven: Unlike L2s, which inherit certain constraints from the underlying L1, Manta Atlantic grants developers substantial flexibility. They can tailor the blockchain's features, consensus mechanisms, and governance models to cater to specific needs, enabling the creation of bespoke solutions for niche applications.

• Enhanced Security: Manta Atlantic utilizes a Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) consensus mechanism, a robust system that ensures high resilience against malicious attacks and network disruptions. This guarantees the stability and security of the network, a crucial factor for high-value transactions and complex applications.

• Uncompromising Privacy: Manta Atlantic offers private smart contracts that allow for the confidential execution of complex logic on-chain, enabling the development of truly anonymous dApps in areas like DeFi and healthcare.

Manta Pacific vs. Manta Atlantic: A Comparative Glance

To truly grasp the distinct roles of these layers, let's consider a comparison:

Key Features and Capabilities of Manta Network

Manta Network houses some unique features such as privacy by default, scalability, modular architecture, and interoperability. Let's understand them in detail:

Scalability

Manta Pacific, with the help of Celestia and Caledera’s OP Stack, provides high throughput and low cost. This opens doors for data-hungry dApps craving a smooth, high-capacity highway and cost-savvy users tired of Ethereum's toll booths. 

Recently, Manta Pacific surpassed Base in TVL (Total Value Locked) to become the fourth-largest scaling solution.

Modular Architecture

Manta's modular design, in a nutshell, is a developer’s playground where building blocks of privacy snap together with minimal compromises.

Developers can freely mix and match functionalities across chains, building innovative apps that work together seamlessly. Need privacy for your DeFi exchange, or anonymity for your NFT marketplace? Manta's got pre-built modules ready to go. 

Interoperability

Interoperability is at the center of Manta Network. Tearing down the walls between blockchains, allows users to transfer their assets between Manta Pacific, its Atlantic layer, and beyond.

Manta Network recently partnered with Polyhedra Network to bring trustless and efficient interoperability through zkBridge. This partnership is expected to play a vital role in the network’s adoption.

Privacy by Default (Coming Soon)

Manta Pacific will prioritize your financial privacy by shrouding all transactions in a cloak of invisibility. Utilizing ZK-SNARKs, a cutting-edge cryptographic technology, only the sender and receiver witness the details of their exchange. The network verifies its validity while remaining unaware of the specifics, like amounts, assets, and identities. This lets the senders prove that the transaction is valid while ensuring nobody, from miners to merchants, can pry into your financial life. 

The Manta Network Ecosystem

Manta Network is more than just its technological backbone; it fosters a vibrant ecosystem of dApps and services dedicated to empowering users. Below is a list of popular dApps in the Manta Network ecosystem.

• Mantaswap: A decentralized exchange allowing users to swap assets on Manta Pacific with minimal fees and enhanced privacy.

• Network Operator Pools (NPO) Launchpad: A platform for minting privacy-preserving NFTs and zkSBTs (Soulbound Tokens), opening doors for innovative use cases in identity management and data ownership.

• POMP Dapp: A privacy-aware order book module for building decentralized exchanges with advanced trading capabilities.

• Aperture Finance: A privacy-preserving lending and borrowing protocol, Aperture allows users to access decentralized finance tools without exposing their financial activities.

How Do You Choose The Right Manta Wallet?

Since MANTA is an ERC-20 token, most popular Ethereum-based wallets would support this token. However, to interact with Manta Atlantic dApps, you will need to use a wallet that supports the Layer 1 chain, such as Manta Wallet. 

Ease of Use

For beginners, prioritize wallets with intuitive interfaces, clear instructions, and minimal technical jargon. For Manta Pacific, consider multichain options like Rabby Wallet, Trust Wallet and MetaMask. An additional benefit of multichain wallets is that you can use one wallet to manage multiple assets across different chains. For Manta Atlantic, you may want to opt for Manta Wallet, which is designed by the Manta Network team. 

dApps Usage

Choose a wallet compatible with the specific dApps you utilize within the Manta ecosystem. Research supported dApps on the Manta website or consult online communities for user recommendations.

Opt for wallets with a track record of integrating with new dApps, allowing you to seamlessly navigate the evolving Manta landscape.

Security Concerns

For holding large token amounts, prioritize hardware (cold) wallets like Ledger or Trezor. Their offline storage and physical confirmation for transactions offer maximum protection. Meanwhile, you can continue using hot wallets like the ones above for regular trading. 

Manta Wallet

Manta Wallet is your gateway to a secure and effortless mode of managing and safeguarding your crypto assets with simplicity and advanced features. It allows you to store, manage, and access your MANTA holdings at any time.

The official and most integrated wallet option is the Manta wallet extension. Using the Manta wallet extension you can manage your assets, connect to dApps, and sign transactions within the Manta ecosystem.

While the Manta Wallet Extension holds numerous features, here’s what you could achieve with it:

• Create and manage wallets with both public and private addresses.

• View public and zkAssets in your portfolio.

• Connect to Manta dApps seamlessly.

• Sign transactions with human-readable descriptions for enhanced security.

MANTA: The Heartbeat of the Manta Ecosystem

MANTA is the native token of the Manta Network. It is an ERC-20 token.

The total supply of MANTA is set at 1 billion tokens, with a yearly minting rate of 2% starting from its genesis.

Use Cases of MANTA Token

On Manta Pacific, MANTA offers benefits like gas fee savings and sequencer revenue, enhancing the user experience for on-chain activities and interactions with zkApps. The token incentivizes builders and contributors to support the ecosystem's growth and sustainability. MANTA can also be used for funding projects within the ecosystem and generating revenue.

On Manta Atlantic, the token is used for network usage fees, as a medium of exchange, and for governance rights. It also plays a role in network security and the allocation of ecosystem projects, treasury, collators, and staking rewards.

• Paying transaction fees: On the Manta Network, transaction fees are dynamically calculated based on the transaction's complexity and current network congestion. 

• Staking: Staking your MANTA tokens is a win-win proposition. Users contribute to the network's security by locking their tokens in a smart contract for a set period, and in return, they earn passive rewards in the form of additional MANTA tokens. 

• Governance: As a MANTA token holders can directly influence the network's evolution. They get to cast their votes on proposals that dictate critical aspects like transaction fees, staking rewards, and even the core governance structure. 

Next Steps for Manta Network

As per Manta Network’s roadmap, Manta Pacific is currently operating as an optimistic rollup that adopts Celestia's modular Data Availability (DA) to reduce gas fees. In the next stage, the plan is to fully transition to a zkEVM Layer 2 by leveraging the Polygon Chain Development Kit (CDK). Doing so will provide the following benefits:

• All the benefits of Validium services

• zkEVM’s enhanced performance, security, and user experience.

• Capitalizing on Polygon CDK to enable Manta Pacific to tap into the interoperable space and liquidity of chains built with Polygon CDK through a trustless ZK bridge to Ethereum.

Conclusion

Manta Network stands at the forefront of privacy innovation in blockchain technology. Its comprehensive approach to privacy, scalability, and interoperability, combined with a vibrant and growing ecosystem, positions it as a leading platform for users and developers who want to balance the benefits of blockchain with the critical need for privacy and security.

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Sankrit K

Sankrit is a content writer and a subject matter expert in web3. He has worked with notable companies, including Ledger, Alchemy, and MoonPay. Sankrit specializes in helping web3 brands create content that is easy to understand while accurately explaining technical concepts.