Manta Network, a cutting-edge layer-2 network designed for zero-knowledge applications, has unveiled a $50 million ecosystem fund set up by its parent organization, Manta Foundation, to expedite the development of projects on its blockchain.
According to Manta, the $50 million fund is scheduled to run for a year starting from June 15th. Successful grant recipients or direct investments will be included in the EcoFund Program.
Zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs are cryptographic protocols that allow a prover to convince a verifier of a claim’s truth without revealing any specific details about the claim itself. In the realm of cryptocurrencies, ZK-proofs play a vital role in enabling anonymous transactions while safeguarding the transaction details and user identities.
Of the $50 million ecosystem fund, $35 million will be directed towards direct investments in promising projects within the Manta Network. Additionally, $10 million will be allocated for ecosystem grants, $5 million for hackathons, $4 million for general grants, and $2 million specifically for artificial intelligence, memecoin, and ZK-related projects.
Manta emphasized its interest in projects that have a clear trajectory towards market disruption and substantial growth, ensuring their sustainability within the ecosystem.
At present, the Manta ecosystem boasts a Total Value Locked (TVL) of $54.7 million, a notable decrease from its peak TVL of $684 million in March. This decline can be attributed to the conclusion of the New Paradigm crypto yield program, prompting users to withdraw their funds en masse following yield collection.
Earlier this year, Manta faced a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack amidst a successful token listing on multiple exchanges. The issue has since been resolved. As of the publication date, Manta holds a fully diluted market cap of $1.44 billion.
In March, Kenny Li, co-founder and COO of Manta Pacific, revealed to Cointelegraph that among the 44 active Ethereum layer-2 blockchains currently in operation, only a select few are expected to survive in the next five years.
Following a turbulent token listing, Manta Network is now back on track and ready for business.