Getting Started
Pulsar is an appchain anchored to Mina. MINA locked in a zkApp contract on Mina becomes pMINA on Pulsar, one for one; burning pMINA releases the MINA back. Everything the bridge does is adjudicated by Pulsar's validators and proven back to the Mina contract, as described in How It Works.
Register before your first deposit
The bridge credits pMINA to the Pulsar account registered against your Mina key. A deposit from an unregistered key is judged invalid: no pMINA is minted, and the MINA stays locked in the contract.
What you need
- Auro Wallet with a Mina account funded on Mina devnet. This is required for everything: registration, deposits, withdrawals, and even sending pMINA.
- Keplr, needed once, for registration. After that, every flow works with Auro alone.
There is no faucet in the app, so fund your devnet Mina account first. A deposit needs at least 1.1 MINA (the 1 MINA minimum plus the 0.1 MINA fee), and a withdrawal needs 1.1 MINA (refundable down payment plus fee).
Connect both wallets
Open app.pulsarchain.xyz and connect Auro and Keplr. The app suggests the Pulsar chain to Keplr automatically. When both are connected and your keys are not yet registered, onboarding opens on its own.
Register your keys
Registration links your Mina key to your Pulsar account in the chain's key registry, with two signatures:
- Auro signs a challenge binding your Mina key to your Pulsar key.
- Keplr signs the registration transaction that submits it.
You do not need pMINA to register. The app requests a fee grant for your new Pulsar account, and the grant pays the registration fee.
Two rules to know:
- The mapping is one-time. A Mina key registers once, and a Pulsar account can never be re-pointed to a different one, so deposits will always credit the Pulsar account you register now.
- After registration, Keplr is optional. The app recognizes your registered account from either wallet.
Make your first transfer
| Deposit | Withdrawal | |
|---|---|---|
| Signed with | Auro | Auro |
| Minimum | 1 MINA | none (up to your full balance) |
| Mina cost | 0.1 MINA fee | 0.1 MINA fee plus 1 MINA refundable down payment |
| Time | ~2 hours to credit | ~2 hours to burn, then the next settlement pays out |
Both directions are Mina transactions, and both take about two hours, nearly all of it Mina finality before Pulsar will scan the block. Track them under Transactions in the app.
Next: Deposit · Withdraw · Send pMINA · Troubleshooting