Copper.co, a firm focused on digital asset custody, collateral management and prime services, has added custody and staking support for MINA, the native currency of Mina Protocol, a next-gen zero knowledge (ZK) blockchain.
This integration expands options “for institutional clientele to participate in the Mina community.”
Institutional users of Copper’s infrastructure “benefit from a secure solution for managing their digital assets and a reliable staking service to accrue rewards, encouraging broader adoption of zero knowledge technology.”
Kurt Hemecker, CEO of the Mina Foundation, said:
“This strategic collaboration is aimed at accelerating the growth of zero knowledge technology with increased liquidity from institutions to help secure the Mina network. The addition of Copper’s custody solution gives professional and institutional entities more options to diversify their crypto participation with MINA. We hope that it will also raise awareness of institutional use cases for ZK technology, such as zk-KYC credentials that help address compliance without sacrificing user privacy.”
Mina Protocol uses advanced cryptography and recursive zero knowledge proofs “to design a succinct blockchain that is scalable, secure and accessible from any device.”
This year Mina became the first ZK Layer 1 blockchain to enable “the development and deployment of zero knowledge applications (zkApps) on mainnet.”
With a focus on custody and collateral management, Copper has built “the standard for institutional digital asset infrastructure.”
Central to Copper’s technology is ClearLoop, which enables clients “to manage collateral and settle trades in near real-time across multiple exchanges, while mitigating counterparty risk and increasing capital efficiency.”
Dmitry Tokarev, CEO and Co-Founder of Copper, added:
“Now is a pivotal moment for institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. Following the Ethereum ETF approval this year, we are witnessing increased interest for reliable tools to gain exposure in this space. The integration with Mina Protocol represents another step forward in advancing opportunities for institutional adoption.”
As noted in the update, Mina Protocol is a “zero knowledge (ZK) blockchain. Rather than apply brute computing force, Mina uses advanced cryptography and recursive zk-SNARKs to design an entire blockchain that is fixed at a few kilobytes, the size of a couple tweets.”
Lightweight and accessible, Mina enables efficient “implementation and easy programmability of zero knowledge applications (zkApps).”
With Mina’s enhanced privacy features and off-chain execution model, developers can “build novel applications that bridge the real world and crypto— bringing us closer to the secure, democratic future we all deserve.”
Mina Foundation supports the Mina Protocol and its ecosystem.
The Foundation aims to advance the goal of “creating a secure web3 with zero knowledge proofs— ushering in a new era of private and scalable applications— by issuing grants, fostering community growth, and championing Mina in the wider world.”