Crypto Gloss

Manta Network

Manta Network is ambitious in scope: a two-chain ecosystem combining an Ethereum Layer 2 (Manta Pacific, OP Stack) with a Polkadot parachain (Manta Atlantic) to deliver both scalable dApp execution and native zero-knowledge privacy. The ZK angle is central to Manta’s identity — “programmable ZK” aims to let developers build privacy-preserving apps without writing ZK circuits from scratch, using Manta’s ZK application library (MantaPay, MantaID). In practice, Manta Pacific absorbed most attention as an EVM-compatible L2 using Celestia for data availability; MANTA token governance applies to both chains. After launching in 2023, Manta Pacific achieved significant TVL from points-farming incentive campaigns and is developing its ecosystem.

Two-Chain Architecture

The protocol is built around the following components.

Manta Pacific (EVM Layer 2)

  • Technology: OP Stack-based optimistic rollup
  • Data availability: Celestia (modular DA — cheaper than Ethereum calldata)
  • EVM compatibility: Type 2 (bytecode equivalent)
  • Gas token: ETH
  • Purpose: General-purpose dApp execution — DeFi, NFTs, gaming
  • ZK integration: Uses Manta’s ZK libraries for apps that want privacy features
  • Sequencer: Currently central (decentralization roadmap planned)

Manta Atlantic (Polkadot Parachain)

  • Technology: Substrate-based parachain (Polkadot ecosystem)
  • Purpose: Native ZK identity (MantaID), compliance proofs, programmable privacy
  • ZK proof system: Uses zkSNARK circuits (Groth16 + PLONK)
  • Features: MantaPay (private payments), MantaID (zkKYC)
  • Security: Polkadot shared security model
  • Activity: Lower than Pacific; niche ZK applications

The two-chain structure reflects Manta’s view that EVM (Pacific) and Polkadot (Atlantic) serve different use cases. Critics argue this creates unnecessary complexity and fragmented liquidity.

MANTA Token

Supply: 1 billion MANTA

Distribution:

  • Team/advisors: ~20%
  • Ecosystem fund: ~25%
  • Investors (Polychain, Binance Labs, et al.): ~20%
  • Mining/staking rewards: ~30%
  • Community: ~5%

Token utilities:

  • Governance: Vote on protocol parameters for both Pacific and Atlantic
  • Staking: Participate in Atlantic’s block production (collator staking)
  • Gas (Atlantic): MANTA as gas on Atlantic parachain
  • Pacific gas: ETH (not MANTA) — MANTA not used for Pacific gas

Price history:

  • TGE: Early 2024
  • Initial price: ~$2.50-3.50
  • ATH: ~$3.20 (January 2024 at TGE momentum)
  • 2024 decline: Significant drawdown from ATH

Investors:

  • Polychain Capital
  • Binance Labs
  • Three Arrows Capital (before collapse — early round)
  • Spartan Group
  • CoinFund

Celestia DA Integration

Manta Pacific was an early adopter of Celestia for data availability — publishing transaction data to Celestia instead of Ethereum:

Why Celestia over Ethereum?

  • ~10× cheaper per byte for data availability
  • Allows Manta Pacific to charge substantially lower gas fees while maintaining rollup security
  • State roots still posted to Ethereum (settlement)

Security model:

  • Celestia provides data availability; Ethereum provides settlement
  • Trust assumption: Celestia’s light node network must be honest about data availability
  • DA sampling: Celestia nodes use erasure coding + data availability sampling to verify availability mathematically

Industry context:

Manta joined Base, Optimism, and Arbitrum as early adopters of the “modular DA” thesis — separating DA from Ethereum to reduce costs. Celestia’s blob pricing and throughput make it the leading modular DA solution as of 2025.

MantaPay — Private Transactions

MantaPay is Manta Atlantic’s flagship zero-knowledge application:

What it does:

  • Shielded transfers: Send tokens without revealing sender, recipient, or amount on-chain
  • “Shield” public tokens → receive private shielded versions
  • Transfer shielded tokens → counterparty unshields to recover

ZK circuit:

  • Uses Groth16 SNARKs for transaction proofs
  • Each shielded transfer generates a proof that the transaction is valid without revealing transaction details

Supported assets:

  • Native DOT/MANTA on Atlantic
  • Crosschain tokens via XCM (Polkadot’s messaging)

Regulatory concern:

Like Tornado Cash, privacy tools face regulatory scrutiny. Manta has emphasized “programmable compliance” — building ZK-KYC (MantaID) specifically to allow selective disclosure of identity while preserving privacy for transaction amounts.

MantaID — ZK Identity

Concept: A self-sovereign identity system allowing users to prove things about themselves without revealing the underlying data.

Use cases:

  • Prove age over 18 without revealing birthdate
  • Prove KYC status without revealing name/passport
  • Prove jurisdiction (non-US) without full identity disclosure

How it works:

  1. User completes KYC with a Manta-registered identity provider
  2. Identity provider issues a zkKYC credential (signed ZK proof)
  3. User can use this credential on Manta apps without revealing identity data
  4. Apps verify the proof on-chain

Status: Beta; limited integration with third-party apps. A compelling product direction that faces the bootstrapping problem of needing recognized identity providers to participate.

Ecosystem on Manta Pacific

Major protocols:

  • Quickswap: Prominent Polygon AMM deployed on Manta Pacific
  • LayerBank: Lending protocol
  • Pacific Finance: Native DeFi protocols
  • KyberSwap: Aggregator
  • Manta New Paradigm: NFT + DeFi fusion features

Incentive campaigns (New Paradigm):

In early 2024, Manta ran “New Paradigm” — a points/NFT campaign where:

  • Users deposited assets to earn “stones” (points)
  • Stones redeemable for MANTA token at TGE
  • TVL surged to ~$900M temporarily during the campaign
  • Post-campaign TVL declined as incentivized deposits left

This “mercenary TVL” problem affected Manta significantly — a common critique in new L2 launches.

Comparison to Other Privacy L2s

Manta Pacific Aztec Polygon zkEVM
Privacy App-layer ZK Protocol-level privacy No native privacy
DA layer Celestia Ethereum Ethereum
EVM OP Stack (EVM) Noir (different language) Type 2 EVM
Token MANTA None (not launched) MATIC/POL
Polkadot side Atlantic N/A N/A

Aztec is more ambitious (privacy at the protocol level); Manta Pacific is more practical (regular EVM L2 with optional privacy tools).

How to Use Manta Pacific

  1. Add Manta Pacific to MetaMask:
    RPC: pacific-rpc.manta.network
    Chain ID: 169
  2. Bridge ETH from Ethereum to Manta Pacific via bridge.manta.network
  3. Use Quickswap or native DEXs for trading

For privacy (Atlantic):

  1. Install SubWallet or Nova Wallet (Polkadot wallets)
  2. Get MANTA token
  3. Bridge to Atlantic via official bridge
  4. Use MantaPay for shielded transfers

Secure all assets with (supports Ethereum + Polkadot).

Social Media Sentiment

Manta Network is respected for the ZK privacy thesis and the right-place-right-time execution of launching a Celestia-integrated OP Stack L2 before others. The “programmable ZK” developer experience is genuinely novel. Criticism centers on: the two-chain complexity (Pacific + Atlantic), the mercenary TVL problem post-“New Paradigm” campaign, and the MANTA token’s weak post-TGE performance. Regulators continue to create uncertainty for privacy features specifically — the Tornado Cash indictment showed that privacy protocol developers face legal risk, which may limit how aggressively Manta promotes MantaPay. The ZK identity story (MantaID) is compelling but unproven at scale. Overall, Manta is viewed as a technically serious project executing in a genuine niche (ZK privacy + EVM L2) but facing the same liquidity fragmentation problem as every other new L2.

Last updated: 2026-04

Related Terms

Sources

Bunz, B., Bootle, J., Boneh, D., Poelstra, A., Wuille, P., & Maxwell, G. (2018). Bulletproofs: Short Proofs for Confidential Transactions and More. IEEE S&P.

Bünz, B., & Fisch, B. (2023). Schwartz-Zippel for Multi-linear Extensions. IACR Cryptology ePrint.

Vu, T. S., Pham, L. D., Le, H., & Khoury, R. B. (2021). Privacy-Preserving Identity Verification Using Zero-Knowledge Proofs. IEEE International Conference.

Al-Bassam, M., Sonnino, A., Buterin, V., & Khabbazhan, M. (2019). Fraud and Data Availability Proofs. arXiv.

Gudgeon, L., Werner, S., Perez, D., & Knottenbelt, W. (2020). SoK: Layer-Two Blockchain Protocols. Financial Cryptography.