Community-Driven Growth Without Venture Capital
Minswap has quietly become the most used decentralized exchange on Cardano, which I find interesting because it achieved this without any venture capital backing. The platform launched in 2021 through what they call a Fair Initial Stake Offering, distributing MIN tokens directly to the Cardano community rather than through private sales or institutional funding. This approach seems to have paid off – MIN holders now have full voting rights over protocol decisions, treasury management, and upgrades.
What’s notable is that Minswap has been recognized as Cardano’s top DeFi project three separate times. The community control aspect appears to be working well, though I wonder if this model could scale to larger networks. The fact that they’ve managed to process over $7 billion across nearly 6 million trades suggests they’re doing something right.
Technical Improvements and Market Position
Last year, Minswap completely rebuilt its core contracts using Plutus V2 and the Aiken framework. This wasn’t just a minor update – it increased their throughput by ten times. They went from handling about 3 swaps per block to up to 36 swaps per block. That’s a significant improvement that directly addresses one of the common criticisms about Cardano’s transaction capacity.
They’ve also added features that you’d expect from more established exchanges: smart order routing, limit orders, stop-loss orders, and one-click liquidity tools. Their stableswap pools now handle over 90% of all stablecoin volume on Cardano, which surprised me given how competitive the stablecoin market can be.
The numbers speak for themselves – Minswap currently manages over 70% of daily DEX volume on Cardano with a total value locked approaching $54 million. That represents a substantial portion of the network’s entire DeFi activity.
Governance and Treasury Management
What’s particularly interesting is how active their governance has become. In April 2025, the community passed MIP-01 with 98% support, which established a DAO LLC in the Marshall Islands. This provided a legal framework for managing their treasury and contracts, which is something many DeFi projects struggle with.
Since then, token holders have voted on everything from reducing token emissions to forming treasury working groups and approving liquidity management proposals. The treasury itself has grown to over $13.53 million, including protocol-owned liquidity positions that help stabilize core trading pairs.
Turnout for these votes remains strong, with most decisions involving hundreds of millions of MIN tokens. This level of participation suggests the community feels genuinely invested in the protocol’s direction.
Bitcoin Integration and Future Outlook
Perhaps the most exciting development is the upcoming integration with Bitcoin through Cardano’s Cardinal Protocol. This will allow native Bitcoin to enter Cardano’s DeFi ecosystem without the need for wrapping or centralized custody. Minswap is expected to be the first DEX to support BTC-ADA trading pairs.
Given Minswap’s current position as the liquidity backbone of Cardano DeFi, they’re well-positioned to handle the initial wave of Bitcoin liquidity. Some projections suggest that BTC support could increase Cardano’s overall DeFi TVL by up to 50%, with Minswap serving as the primary gateway.
What stands out about Minswap’s approach is their steady, methodical growth. They haven’t relied on hype cycles or aggressive token launches. Instead, they’ve focused on building useful features and maintaining strong community governance. As Cardano continues to evolve with cross-chain functionality and on-chain governance, Minswap appears well-positioned to remain at the center of the ecosystem.
The protocol continues to operate quietly but effectively, which might be exactly what Cardano’s DeFi space needs – stability and consistent performance rather than flashy marketing campaigns.
