Miden

About Miden

Miden is a STARK-based ZK rollup that spun out of Polygon Labs in April 2025, after being incubated under the Agglayer Breakout Program. It's been in development since 2022 and is now an independent entity building what it calls an "edge blockchain", one where execution and state management happen on the user's device, not on a central server or validator set.

The core idea is client-side proving: you generate a zero-knowledge proof locally on your device, then submit it to the network for verification. This means your transaction data never has to be exposed to execute. Combined with post-quantum cryptography (STARK proofs are quantum-resistant), Miden is building infrastructure explicitly designed to outlast current threat models.

The target market isn't retail DeFi, it's institutions moving billions on-chain that need transaction confidentiality: payroll without exposing employee data, OTC trading without broadcasting positions, treasury operations that remain private between counterparties. Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal confirmed 10% of Miden's token supply will be airdropped to POL holders and stakers as part of the Agglayer Breakout commitments. POL snapshots began May 2025 and are ongoing.