To find out even more about this project, check out our deep dive of [Automata Network](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-is-automata-network-ata-features-tokenomics-and-price-prediction).

## What Is Automata (ATA)?

[Automata](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/automata-network/) is a high-performance compute protocol that empowers Web 3.0 applications and businesses with privacy-first, high assurance, and friction-less transactions. Its mission is to provide the functionalities and infrastructure necessary to realize the vision of a seamless Web 3.0 experience. It tackles the lack of transparency in data ownership, censorship, and intrusion into personal privacy.

Automata’s products include:

* Privacy-first cross-chain service plane: Automata offers privacy services for various blockchains that let users control their data.
* Shielded and unbiased compute plane:the degree of privacy of computation in Automata can be stronger than in centralized web services like AWS.
* Elastic and scalable control plane: it is operated by a group of staking nodes and governs interactions between participants of the protocol.
* Ledger plane: Automata provides interfaces for multiple blockchains to exchange data and cooperate on the agreed set of data in an atomic and privacy-preserving manner.

## Who Are the Founders of Automata?

Automata was founded in 2019 by a team of blockchain developers and researchers, including previous founding members of [Ziliqa](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/zilliqa/). Co-founder Zheng Leong Chua holds a PhD in computer science from the National University of Singapore, while the other co-founder Deli Gong previously worked at Ziliqa as infrastructure lead. In total, the team numbers 11 people and has been a recipient of Web3 Grant (2020), a participant of the Web 3.0 Bootcamp (2020), Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator (2021), and Polkadot Decoded Mainstage speaker (2021). The team’s investors include illustrious names like KR1, Alameda Research, founded by [FTX](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ftx-token/) CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, IOSG Ventures, Divergence Capital, Genesis Block Ventures and Jump Trading.

## What Makes Automata Unique?

Automata Network aims to be recognized as the go-to privacy service for DeFi and Web3 with its proposition of privacy middleware. It aims to fill a gap in the market by providing privacy-focused solutions that integrate with existing blockchain infrastructure in an intuitive, seamless manner. Its applications are built for Web3 purposes and include anonymous voting, miner extractable value (MEV) minimization, and do-not-track indexing. These allow users to transact safely, regain control of their identity, and offer better building blocks to developers with open-source code and APIs.

Its anonymous voting service is called Witness and offers low-cost, off-chain voting, on-chain execution based on the results and different levels of privacy, ranging from private to public, based on the protocol’s requirements. The solution supports [Ethereum](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/), [Binance Smart Chain](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/binance-coin/), and other [Substrate](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/substrate)-based [EVM](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/ethereum-virtual-machine-evm)-compatible chains. Each of these functions can be used as standalone or together, e.g., if a project wants to use Witness as a signaling tool without on-chain execution.

Conveyor is Automata’s MEV minimization solution that is chain-agnostic and works seamlessly with [DEX](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/decentralized-exchange-dex)es like [Uniswap](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/uniswap/). It ingests and outputs transactions in a determined order, thereby creating a front-running-free zone that removes the chaos of transaction reordering. Features include gasless trading, anti-front running, privacy on ordering, and integration with other DEXes.

#### **Related Pages:**

Check out [Monero (XMR)](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/monero/) — a privacy-focused cryptocurrency.

Check out [ZCash](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/zcash/) — another cryptocurrency with a specific focus on privacy.

Learn about privacy-focused cryptocurrencies in our [guide to privacy coins](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/zilliqa/)..

Learn more about Automata in our [deep dive about ATA.](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-is-automata-network-ata-features-tokenomics-and-price-prediction)

Get the latest crypto news and latest trading insights with the [CoinMarketCap blog](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/categories/blog).

## How Many Automata (ATA) Coins Are There in Circulation?

ATA is a [BEP-20](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/bep-20) and [ERC-20](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/erc-20) token with a total supply of 1 billion and a current circulating supply of 172 million. As the native utility token of the Automata Network, it has several use cases:

* Governance: ATA token holders can create and vote on proposals, platform features and network parameters.
* Mining rewards: Compute and storage miners earn ATA tokens by running applications and executing transactions for users on the network
* Protocol fees: Users pay miners for storage and computation tasks
* Geode allocation: Users can bond ATA tokens to participate in Geode auctions

## How Is the Automata Network Secured?

ATA is [BEP-20](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/bep-20) and [ERC-20](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/erc-20) on the Binance Smart Chain.

ERC-20 is a token standard most new tokens follow when publishing on the Ethereum blockchain. [Ethereum](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/) is secured by a [proof-of-work ](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/proof-of-work-pow)consensus mechanism that requires miners to mine new Ether. A set of decentralized nodes validates transactions and secures the Ethereum blockchain.

BSC is secured through the [proof-of-stake](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/proof-of-stake-pos) consensus mechanism. 21 validators are elected every 24 hours to validate transactions and maintain blockchain security. These validators have to stake a certain amount of BNB coins with Binance to be eligible to do so.

## When Will Automata Trading Begin?

Automata raised $2.4 million in funding from the Binance Launchpool in June 2021. Before that, it closed a seed round in March 2021 with $1 million in funding.

## Where Can You Buy Automata (ATA)?

ATA is available on [Binance](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/binance/), [PancakeswapV2](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/pancakeswap-v2/) and [Gate.io](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/gate-io/).