Manta Network is the multi-modular ecosystem for zero-knowledge(ZK) Applications. Having two networks, Manta Pacific and Manta Atlantic, it aims to deliver an unparalleled experience for the next generation of Web3 application development and adoption with the applied usage of zero-knowledge cryptography. ^[1]

History

Manta Network was founded in 2020 by 2 Co-founders, Victor Ji and Shumo Chu with Kenny Li as the COO and co-founder too. They had the aim to improve privacy among existing DeFi solutions. The company raised their first funding of $1.1M from 10 investors (eg:polychain) in February 2nd, 2021. Four more funding rounds were conducted by 30 investors reaching the net amount of $60.4M. Manta Network started its Manta Pacific Testnet on July 19th, 2023 and officially went on mainnet in 12th September, 2023. ^[2]

Overview

Manta Network offers a software development kit and ZK library that are touted to provide plug-and-play functionality for developers. Manta Network was created by a team of experienced founders from prestigious institutions, including Harvard, MIT, and Algorand. Manta Network has received investments from many top Web3 investment funds, including Binance Labs and Polychain Capital. Utilizing its two networks, Manta Pacific and Manta Atlantic, it’s on the move to bring the next generation of Web3 users and usher in a new chapter of Web3 ZK Applications. Kenny Li, the co-founder of Manta Network said this about ZK:

"This is crucial when zero-knowledge is involved, whereby developers do not have to worry about the infrastructure, as the complexity of cryptography can be abstracted away.”

Ecosystem

Manta Pacific

This is a layer 2 blockchain built on Ethereum with high compatibility with zkEVM, similar to Scroll or Polygon zkEVM. In addition, Manta Pacific integrates Celestia’s Data Availability infrastructure, expanding the network’s data storage capabilities. Manta Pacific takes all of the work that the Manta team has already built on ZK and applies it directly into a scalable EVM environment specifically designed for deploying ZK applications through the help of Celestia and the zkEVM. ^[3]

Features:

• Manta Pacific offers programmable ZK as an EVM-native L2.
• Manta’s Universal Circuits enable easy ZK application development using only Solidity.
• Leveraging Celestia for data availability and the zkEVM for scalability, Manta Pacific provides high scalability and low transaction fees for ZK applications.

Advantages:

• Developer friendly: offers a ZK library for developers to easily call ZK-enabled contracts for their existing Solidity smart contracts and dApps.
• Non-invasive Compliance: uses zkSBTs like Galxe without exposing any details.
• Modularity for Lower Gas Fees and High Scalability: uses Celestia as the DA layer, to reduce transaction costs.

Manta Atlantic

This is a layer 1 blockchain belonging to the Polkadot system. Manta Pacific aims to create an anonymous blockchain with multi-chain interoperability and high throughput, using ZK-SNARK technology. It is the fastest and most decentralized ZK Layer 1 supporting modular on-chain compliance identities. This simplifies identity for other projects by building a ZK-powered, interoperable compliance credential layer. Using a public account based address system and an UTXO based private address system, called zkAddress; which provide shielded information like SBT minting, onchain credentials, offchain identities without leaking zk identity. ^[4]

Tokenomics

$MANTA is the native token of Manta Network. It has a total supply of 1B launched on Manta Pacific chain and a derivative from BSC.

Token Utility

• Network Usage Fee: $MANTA covers transaction and contract fees, with allocations to ecosystem projects (72%), the treasury (18%), and collators (10%).
• Medium of Exchange: Serves as Manta Network’s currency for transfers, contract interactions, and purchasing credentials like zkSBTs and zkKYCs.
• Governance: Provides voting rights for referenda, council elections, and network decision-making.
• Network Security: Incentivizes collators and allocates 2% of annual issuance to stakers for network security. ^[10]

Allocation

Manta Network raised a total of $60.4M in funding of about 5 rounds with investors like: Qiming Venture Partners, SevenX Ventures, Polychain, CoinFund, ParaFi Capital, Binance Labs and others.^[5]

Airdrop: 5.60%

New Paradigm (Airdrop 2): 6.5%

Binance Launchpool: 3.00%

Public Sale: 8.00%

Private Round: 12.94%

Strategic Investors: 6.17%

Institution Investors: 5.00%

Ecosystem/Community: 21.19%

Foundation Treasury: 13.50%

Team: 10.00%

Advisors: 8.10%

Estimated Validator/Emission Rewards: 2% per year

Manta Network Infrastructure

MantaPay

MantaPay is a decentralized mobile payment service that enables users to make and receive payments quickly and securely. It uses a BYOT (Bring your own token) concept, which allows users to privatize and trade with many cryptocurrencies.

Subscan

Subscan is a high-precision Web3 explorer for browsing blockchain data from Substrate-based networks such as Manta Network.

SocialFi (AsMatch)

AsMatch is the world’s first astrology-based Web3 socialfi matching app built for mobile. AsMatch is an innovative Web3 mobile app that combines AI-generated content (AIGC), zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP) and zkSBTs powered by Manta Network, and a match-to-earn model with token incentives on BNB Chain. ^[9]

Team

Victor Ji

One of the co-founders of Manta Network since October 2020, and a former YC China researcher with a master’s degree in economics from Harvard. He is primarily responsible for Manta Network’s product.

Credentials: Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the Guanghua School of Management, Peking University, with a field of study in X-Plan, and also holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the Harvard Kennedy School, specializing in International development. ^[6]

Shumo Chu

Another one of the co-founders of Manta Network, as well as an assistant professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is also the co-founder of p0x labs, a software company that provides zk proofs across web3.

Credentials: He obtained his PhD from the University of Washington and was a research scientist at Algorand. His current research interests are in privacy-preserving systems. He has been working on database systems, formal methods, and large-scale graph analytics. ^[7]

Kenny Li

He is the COO and co-founder of the Manta Network, and a serial entrepreneur with a decade of experience scaling startups. He started mining Bitcoin in 2013 and worked on multiple crypto projects since then. He holds an MBA from MIT Sloan and has been a teaching assistant in several blockchain courses.

Kenny is a leader at the forefront of the blockchain industry serving as an expert and advisor on the Zprize, which is a consortium of leading zero-knowledge experts pushing innovation in the zero-knowledge space. ^[8]

Kenny Li Escapes Phishing Attack

In April 2025, Cofounder Kenny Li had a close call when the notorious Lazarus Group targeted him with a phishing attempt which he shared on X. ^[10]

Li shared that it all started when a contact on Telegram invited him to a Zoom call. When he joined, however, things took an unsettling turn.

The Zoom interface asked him for camera access, which immediately raised suspicions.

The call then prompted him to download a script file to update his Zoom app, even though everything appeared normal—he could see the person’s face, and the team’s cameras were on. But there was one problem: he couldn’t hear anyone.

“The team members had their cameras on. I could see their legit faces. Everything looked very real. But I couldn’t hear them. It said my Zoom needs an update. But it asked me to download a script file,” Li recalled.

That’s when he realized he was being targeted. He immediately left the call and reached out to the contact on Telegram, only to find they had erased all messages and blocked him.

The malicious link he clicked had opened Zoom on Google Chrome, and soon after, a pop-up warned that his Zoom was outdated and needed updating.

Li explained that he’d been warned about the Lazarus Group’s tactics, noting that the group’s M.O. often revolves around tricking people into downloading and opening malicious files. ^[10]

Manta Foundation Ecofund

The Manta Foundation has launched a $50 million EcoFund, aimed at accelerating the growth of the Manta Network ecosystem. This fund will invest in native applications and technology partners, fostering innovation and development. 70% of the fund is allocated towards investment, 20% towards grants, and 10% towards events and hackathons. ^[11]

Partners

Manta Network has a number of renowned blockchain industry partners, including Acala, Parallel or Polkadot, and Dora Factory. ^[12]