Horizen
Horizen is an EVM-compatible Layer-3 blockchain built on Base using the OP Stack. It is designed to support onchain applications that require confidential execution and programmable compliance, with potential applications across DeFi, payments, institutional finance, and AI agents. [1]
Overview
Horizen is an EVM-compatible Layer-3 blockchain built with the OP Stack that settles onto Base, which in turn settles onto Ethereum. Its current architecture was established after ZEN balances were migrated from the original Horizen mainchain and EON EVM chain to a Base-native ERC-20 contract in July 2025. The network is developed by Horizen Labs, which also develops Vela, a confidential-computation system, and zkVerify, a zero-knowledge proof verification and attestation protocol. The Horizen Foundation oversees ecosystem stewardship and operates under the governance framework established by the Horizen DAO Constitution.
Horizen is designed to support applications that require confidentiality, auditability, or compliance while retaining compatibility with the Ethereum development stack. Developers can use standard Solidity and familiar EVM tools and choose among different privacy approaches, including Vela's trusted execution environments, zkVerify's zero-knowledge infrastructure, or confidentiality mechanisms implemented directly at the application level. Applications can keep selected computations or data confidential while providing cryptographically verifiable information for auditing and compliance, and assets can move between Horizen and Base through native and LayerZero-based bridges. The architecture is intended to support use cases including DeFi, payments, institutional finance, and AI applications without requiring every application to adopt the same privacy technology. [4]
History
Horizen's current architecture followed a migration that consolidated ZEN balances from both the original Horizen mainchain and the EON EVM chain onto a single ERC-20 smart contract on Base, with the process completed on July 23, 2025. EON balances, including staked balances, were automatically migrated to corresponding Base addresses, while balances from the original ZEND mainchain required users to claim their funds through a dedicated backup vault because the mainchain's Bitcoin-style address format could not be directly mapped to Ethereum-compatible addresses. Following the migration, both legacy chains were discontinued, and ZEN activity was consolidated within Base-based smart contracts as Horizen transitioned to its current form as an L3 settling on Base. [1]
Features
Vela
Vela is a confidential compute layer developed by Horizen Labs for private execution on Horizen Chain. It uses Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs), which isolate application computations in hardware-protected enclaves and produce cryptographic attestations that the computation was performed correctly. Applications can therefore keep sensitive data, positions, and execution logic hidden from the public and the infrastructure operator, while publishing encrypted outputs and verifiable evidence of execution onchain. Vela is intended to support confidential applications that also require auditability and compliance, with potential use cases including DeFi, institutional finance, payments, and other applications where transaction or business data cannot be fully public. [5]
Architecture
L3 Model
Horizen Chain operates as an EVM-compatible OP Stack Layer-3 rollup that settles directly onto Base, creating a layered architecture in which Ethereum provides the underlying security and final settlement, Base provides execution scalability and data availability, and Horizen provides application execution and coordination. Horizen publishes transaction data and state commitments to Base while inheriting its sequencing and infrastructure, allowing applications to operate within the broader Ethereum ecosystem. Confidential computation can be added through Vela, a separate coprocessor that executes sensitive workloads inside trusted execution environments (TEEs), produces cryptographically attested results, and anchors those results on-chain. Operating as an independent L3 also gives applications shared infrastructure such as a common address space, composability, and block explorer, rather than requiring them to operate as a disconnected collection of applications directly on Base. [6]
Privacy and Compliance
Horizen uses a privacy-agnostic approach in which applications can select different confidentiality mechanisms according to their requirements rather than relying on a single mandatory architecture. Vela provides confidential execution through trusted execution environments (TEEs), keeping application data encrypted during processing while producing cryptographic attestations of the computation; it is designed as a chain-agnostic coprocessor that can serve EVM-compatible networks beyond Horizen. Applications can also use zkVerify for zero-knowledge proof verification and attestation or implement simpler confidentiality mechanisms directly within Solidity contracts when dedicated TEE or ZK infrastructure is unnecessary.
Compliance is similarly implemented at the application level rather than enforced through a universal platform-wide rule set. Developers can encode deterministic controls such as allowlists, role-based permissions, jurisdiction restrictions, and transaction limits directly into smart contracts, while Vela can handle compliance checks involving sensitive information by executing verification logic privately and producing attestations that authorized auditors or regulators can verify without accessing the underlying data. Horizen also supports third-party AML/KYC screening through PureFi, which performs risk checks off-chain and returns signed verification data that smart contracts can validate before allowing a transaction or other business logic to proceed. [7]
ZEN
ZEN is the native coordination, value-routing, and governance token of the Horizen ecosystem. It is an ERC-20 token on Base that can be bridged to Horizen Chain through LayerZero's Omnichain Fungible Token (OFT) framework, but it is not used to pay transaction fees on Horizen. Instead, ZEN is intended to support staking, ecosystem coordination, governance, and application-level utility, with its broader economic role tied to activity across the network. Staking rewards are designed to come from multiple sources, including DAO bootstrap incentives, liquidity-provisioning activity, protocol fee shares from applications, VFY emissions associated with zkVerify nodes, planned Vela-related economics, and sequencer revenue. Other assets supported within the ecosystem include USDC and cbBTC, while ETH and other supported assets can move between Base and Horizen through the native OP Stack bridge or LayerZero-based bridging infrastructure.
ZEN also has a role in Horizen's governance structure through the Horizen DAO, which provides the framework for community participation in decisions affecting the ecosystem. Governance allows community members to submit and vote on proposals through defined categories and procedures, with the DAO Constitution and related foundational documents establishing the responsibilities and mandate of the Horizen Foundation. In this structure, ZEN's function extends beyond being a transferable token to serving as part of the mechanisms through which economic activity, staking, and governance are connected across the ecosystem. [2] [8]
Tokenomics
ZEN has a total supply of 21M tokens and has the following allocation: [10]
- Collator Rewards: 40%
- Horizon Foundation: 32.5%
- Ecosystem Development: 15%
- ZEN Growth: 10%
- DAO Treasury: 27.5%
- ZEN Sustainability Initiative: 17.5%
- Community Grants: 5%
- Growth Marketing: 5%
