Introduction

The Mina Protocol is a layer 1 blockchain that is secured by proof of stake consensus.

There are three public Mina Protocol networks:

1. mainnet - the production network
2. devnet - the test network based on the same software versions as the mainnet
3. izmir - a development network where new features are trialed

You check the identity of the network with this graphQL query:

query MyQuery {
  networkID
}

Node Operators

Node operators are network participants who run mina nodes on a Mina network.

This section describes operations on Mina and how node operators can run Mina nodes.

• Staking and Snarking - How to stake your MINA
• Generating a Key Pair - How to generate key pairs
• Block Producing Node - Running a Block Producer
• SNARK Workers - Running a SNARK worker
• Archive Nodes - Running an Archive Node
• Seed Peers - Running a Seed Peer
• Data and History - A look at retrieving historic data.
• Delegation Program - The Mina Foundation Delegation Prgram for Block Producers
• Staking Service Guidelines
• Mina Signer
• Mina CLI Reference - Guide to CLI interactions with Mina networks
• Troubleshooting
• FAQ

Mina Nodes

A node is a machine running the Mina daemon. Different nodes fulfill different roles within the Mina network:

1. Block Producer - A node that participates in a process to determine what blocks it is allowed to produce and then produces blocks containing transactions that can be broadcast to the network. People who run block producer nodes are also called block producers.

2. SNARK Coordinators - A role on a Mina node in the Mina network that distributes work to a series of SNARK workers in parallel to block production.

3. SNARK Workers - SNARK workers create zk-SNARKs for each transaction. These zk-SNARKs are used to create recursive zk-SNARKs that prove the correctness of a block, and in turn, these zk-SNARKs are used to create recursive zk-SNARKs that prove the correctness of the network. These zk-SNARKs help provide the Mina Protocol with succinctness.

4. Archive Nodes - A regular mina daemon that is connected to a running mina-archive process. The daemon regularly sends blockchain data to the archive process that stores it in a PostgreSQL database.

5. Seed Nodes - Keep a record of nodes in the network and enable nodes joining the network to connect to peer nodes.

Mina Protocol

Mina Protocol describes how the Mina Protocol works.

Node Developers

Node Developers describes how developers can add to and improve Mina nodes.

Exchange Operators

Exchange Operators describes how to connect to Mina networks and provide access to the MINA token.