Minswap, a decentralized exchange of community launches built on Cardano, has grown into the network’s dominant Defi protocol. With no VC backing, pre-sale, or a fair token delivery model, MinSwap is currently handling most of Cardano’s daily DEX activities and continues to expand its role across the network.
Started in 2021 without institutional funding, Minswap distributed ownership to the Cardano community and introduced native Min tokens through fair initial stock offerings (FISO). Since then, the protocol has expanded through public development and governance, providing MIN holders with full voting rights over protocol parameters, upgrades and financial strategies.
Recognizing its sustained performance and community focus, Minswap has been appointed three times to Cardano’s top Defi project.
Major protocol upgrades offer 10x throughput
In 2024, Minswap restructured its core contract using Plutus V2 and the Aiken Development Framework. This upgrade has increased throughput by 10 times, allowing up to 36 swaps per block (previously capped at 3), significantly reducing transaction costs and congestion.
Exchange also introduced smart order routing, limit/stop loss ordering, and one-click liquidity tools. Shortly afterwards, Minswap launched a Stableaswap pool optimized for pegged asset trading, which handles more than 90% of all Cardano’s Stablecoin volumes. Within a few weeks, they narrowed their use to 30,000 ADA incentive programs four times. These pools currently handle 8-13 swaps per block.
Minswap also expanded its offering with the launch of Launch Bowl, a fixed-price Pro-Rata Token Launch platform. The tool supported a new project to directly chain up capital and became a central part of Minswap’s wider product suite.
Defi Market Share and Ministry of Finance Growth
To date, Minswap has processed more than $7 billion across 5.9 million transactions, continuing to manage more than 70% of Cardano’s daily Dex volume. Today, TVL is approaching $54 million, making up the majority of the network’s Defi activity.
Support for native stubcoins, including DJED, IUSD and USDA, helped with depth of liquidity. Agriculture and staking incentives currently contain capital as more than 599 million minutes of stakes are currently being staked.
Behind the scenes, Minswap’s Dao Treasury has grown to more than $13.53 million, including a liquidity position owned by protocols, which is used to stabilize the core trading pair and reduce exposure to mercenary capital.
Actual governance
Minswap’s governance is active and influential. In April 2025, the community passed MIP-01 with 98% support and officially made DAO LLC in the Marshall Islands. This provided a compliant framework for contract management with the Ministry of Finance.
Since then, MIN holders have voted to reduce token emissions, form financial working groups, and approve liquidity management proposals. Recent governance initiatives include talknomics overhauls by Aqube and diversification strategies introduced by contributor Big Blymp. Vote turnout remains strong, with most votes involving hundreds of millions of minutes.
Strategic integration and the role of ecosystems
Minswap plays a key role in Cardanostack through multiple integrations.
Cardano Spot: We partnered in 2023 to launch the Stablecoin Education Initiative.
Atrium Labs: Works to bring social features, staking tools and integrated transactions to an integrated dashboard experience.
singularitynet: collaboration on AI-driven trading tools, liquidity analysis and strengthening governance. Minswap currently hosts most of the AGIX liquidity on Cardano and supports DAO vote snapshots.
These collaborations strengthen MinSWAP’s position as the liquidity and trading backbone of cardano-based applications.
Bitcoin integration on the horizon
Announced in June 2025, Cardano’s upcoming Cardinal Protocol brings native Bitcoin to the Defi stack without wrapping or central custody. Minswap is expected to be the first DEX to support BTC-ADA and related pairs.
With nearly $54 million in TVL and a major share of trading volume, MinSwap is located to route the initial wave of Bitcoin liquidity. The forecast suggests that BTC support could increase Cardano’s overall DEFI TVL by up to 50%, and MinSWAP will act as the default gateway.
Stable presence in growing networks
Minswap has never relied on the hype cycle or aggressive token launches. Its growth is stable, governance-driven and rooted in user participation. As Cardano expands under Voltaire into Bitcoin, cross-chain capabilities, and on-chain governance, Minwap is deeply tied to how ecosystems function.
For now, the protocol continues to operate quietly in the heart of Cardanodefi, stable, active and community-owned.
