Insights on Manta Network's $50 Million Ecosystem Fund

Manta Network, a prominent layer-2 network specializing in zero-knowledge applications, has introduced a substantial $50 million ecosystem fund via its parent organization, Manta Foundation. This fund aims to accelerate project development and innovation within its blockchain domain.

The $50 million fund will be operational for a year starting from June 15th, facilitating project enhancement. Successful grant recipients and direct investment beneficiaries will be included in the EcoFund Program, a strategic framework by Manta.

Zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs, pivotal in cryptographic protocols, enable individuals to validate claims without divulging confidential information. In the cryptocurrency landscape, ZK-proofs play a crucial role in enabling anonymous transactions while safeguarding transaction specifics and user anonymity.

Allocating $50 million in the ecosystem, Manta plans to invest $35 million directly in promising ventures within the Manta Network. Further, $10 million will be designated for ecosystem grants, $5 million for hackathons, $4 million for general grants, and $2 million for artificial intelligence, memecoin projects, and ZK-specific initiatives.

Manta's strategic vision revolves around fostering projects with substantial potential for market disruption and enduring growth, ensuring their sustained success within the ecosystem.

At present, the Manta ecosystem reports a total value locked (TVL) of $54.7 million, reflecting a decline from its peak TVL of $684 million attained in March. The decline can be attributed to the conclusion of the New Paradigm crypto yield program, prompting significant user withdrawals post-yield harvest.

Earlier this year, Manta encountered a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack during a successful token listing across multiple exchanges, which has since been resolved. The network currently holds a fully diluted market capitalization of $1.44 billion.

In a recent discussion with Cointelegraph, Kenny Li, co-founder and chief operating officer of Manta Pacific, emphasized the competitive landscape of Ethereum layer-2 blockchains. He noted that among the 44 active Ethereum layer-2 chains, only a handful are likely to persist over the next five years.