After a rocky token listing, Manta Network is back in business

For the zero-knowledge proof layer-2 blockchain Manta Network, the billion-dollar token listing earlier this month did not go ahead as expected.

To begin with, the ban was hit by a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on January 18 in which 135 million remote procedure call (RPC) requests paralyzed the network for a few hours.

Shortly after that, the transfer of 2 million Manta tokens to the personal wallet of one of its Korean business development agents also attracted the attention of investors, and Manta revealed that it was only the first investment support of the decentralized finance (DeFi) project LayerBank.

Since then, the network has largely returned to normal and currently has a fully-fledged market value of 3.1 billion dollars. In an interview with Cointelegraph on January 25, Kenny Lee, co-founder of Boston-based p0x Labs, the creator of the Manta network, said the protocol's profit margins have been greatly improved with Layer-2 technology.

“In the past 30 days, we've saved about 1 million users,” Lee said. “Going forward, we're trying to find a balance between actual transaction volume and revenue.”

We're very proud of the team and humbled by the community support as we navigate through one of the weirdest times for @MantaNetwork. Misinformation and illegal attacks have surprised us all. I don't think the community could ask for a better team to take…

— Kenny.manta (@superanonymousk) January 20, 2024

As the network expands, P0x Labs says it will allocate ecosystem grants to projects with strong historical performance, such as Zero Loans, which exceeded $19 million in total value locked (TVL) shortly after launch. “We are definitely looking for projects that have proven themselves in this space,” said the co-founder.

For this year's budget and roadmap, Lee plans to focus on business development in Korea, where Ethereum virtual machine money market LayerBank and lending protocol Shoebill, both part of the Manta ecosystem, have surpassed $350 million in TVL. “In general, I think we want to build more environmental foundations. And so we will use more ecosystem funds to develop that development,” he said.

Despite its progress, the project also had to navigate legacy goals, such as its original idea of ​​exploring the privacy aspect of zero-knowledge technology. “There is not enough regulatory transparency around. [in the U.S.]”Lee explained. “The balance between transparency and the feasibility of the technology in terms of creating a highly scalable user experience, it's simply not there.”

Until then, the network has focused on zero-knowledge enabled decentralized applications, including fully on-chain gambling and decentralized identities. Manta Networks currently has a total value locked in of $1.5 billion in manufactured and bridged assets.

In the year On July 19, 2023, p0x Labs raised $25 million in Series A at a $500 million valuation led by Polychain Capital and Qiming Venture Partners.

Related: Manta Network Suffers DDoS Attack on Exchange List