Changes for Horizen

TLDR: Horizen is changing. The Horizen L3 is winding down over the next two weeks. 

Users should bridge their assets to Base at their soonest possible convenience, including unstaking and withdrawing any funds from ZEN staking on the Horizen chain. A new ZEN staking program will commence on Base soon.

While L3 wind-down has quietly been in preliminary planning phases as part of ongoing roadmap development, migration is being accelerated due to upcoming Base network upgrades that will break compatibility with existing Base L3 chains on the OP (Optimism) stack.

Why this change? As the Horizen L3 on Base has been operational on mainnet for nearly one year, the most compelling projects being built on Horizen today use privacy technologies like zero-knowledge proofs and TEEs that do not require the operation of dedicated block space as an L3 blockchain settling to Base.

With the emergence of Vela as a TEE-based confidential execution environment for private onchain finance – Base will now be utilized as the primary chain for the Horizen ecosystem.

Applications currently in development by independent teams in the Horizen ecosystem will also make this transition. Additionally, we expect the pace of project development to increase in future quarters due to reduced architectural complexities with respect to bridging and cross-chain token mechanics.

As part of this wind-down and migration, ZEN staking on the Horizen L3 will come to an orderly but immediate conclusion. Expect more information in the coming days about ZEN staking on Base.

Horizen chain wind-down and migration will occur over approximately the next two weeks as Base upgrades to its Denim release, with breaking changes to OP-stack chains settling to Base. Please migrate all funds before November 4, 13:00 UTC. Details follow below:

ACTION REQUIRED: Move your assets off the Horizen L3 by November 4, 13:00 UTC

The Horizen L3 is shutting down.

Bridging from the L3 to Base closes at 13:00 UTC on Tuesday, November 4. If you hold ZEN, ETH or other assets on the L3, please move them to Base before that date and time. 

What happens if I miss the date to bridge to Base?

Any ZEN or ETH still on the Horizen L3 after the bridge closes will be returned to you on Base by the Horizen DAO after funds are made recoverable. This process is expected to take several weeks. Withdrawing now is the fastest path to returning your assets to Base.

WHAT TO DO

1. If you are staking ZEN: Go to https://staking.horizen.io. Withdraw your stake first, then claim your rewards. Staking rewards on the L3 end on October 25; there is nothing to wait for.

2. Bridge your ZEN and USDC.e to Base: https://stargate.finance

3. Bridge your ETH to Base: Withdraw your ETH via the native bridge at https://bridge.horizen.io. Start this before November 4; the transaction will be finalized for you and completed on Base in approximately two weeks.

USDC.e is operated by Stargate, not Horizen, and is not covered by the DAO return; you must bridge USDC.e out before November 4.

If you need ETH on Horizen for gas to bridge out other assets, bridge a very small amount of ETH from Base to the Horizen L3 using the native bridge at https://bridge.horizen.io.

L3 gas costs a fraction of a cent, so bridge the minimum the bridge allows and no more; ETH left on the L3 below 0.001 ETH after network wind-down will not be returned.

If you are using a Safe multi-sig or any other vault or smart contract wallet on the L3 and are unable to withdraw assets before Nov 4, contact security@horizen.io to open coordination for a return of funds.

Bridging ZEN from Base to the Horizen L3 is already disabled. ETH deposits remain open only for users to bridge ETH to Horizen for gas to withdraw other assets.

IF YOU MISS THE DEADLINE

At 13:00 UTC on November 4, a snapshot of every balance and every staking position on the L3 will be taken. The Horizen DAO will recover funds and subsequently send each holder their ZEN, including unclaimed staking rewards, to the same address on Base, after a one-week public review of the snapshot. ETH balances above 0.001 ETH are returned the same way. The anticipated timeframe for return of funds is second half of November. If your Horizen L3 wallet address is a smart contract wallet that does not similarly exist on Base, please contact us at security@horizen.io before Nov 4 to open coordination for a return of funds.

WHY IS THIS HAPPENING SO QUICKLY?

Earlier this week, Base scheduled its “Denim” upgrade, which moves Base to 200-millisecond blocks, for November 5. OP Stack chains that settle to Base, including the Horizen L3, cannot follow that change: about 40 minutes after activation the L3 can no longer include user transactions, permanently. We identified this, confirmed it on the Base Sepolia testnet where Denim is already live, and our infrastructure provider has confirmed there is no fix. We set the bridging cutoff one day earlier than hard shutdown so that the snapshot is clean and nothing is in flight when the chain stops.

STAKING WILL CONTINUE ON BASE

We expect to redeploy ZEN staking on Base in the coming days. The program remains funded per ZenIP-42408, so staking will resume where ZEN already lives natively, on Base. Details will follow in separate posts to come. Unstaking your ZEN from the L3 today will position you for the start of staking on Base.

WHAT COMES NEXT

Base will become the home chain for the Horizen ecosystem. ZEN already lives on Base natively, and the work ahead – including a compliant privacy pool with staked ZEN-powered nodes and Vela for confidential compute – does not require its own blockspace. A proposed three-year roadmap will be presented to the Horizen DAO Special Council and the larger community for input and governance before execution.

KEY DATES (UTC)

• Completed: Bridging ZEN from Base to the Horizen L3 is disabled

• Now: Users begin to bridge all assets from Horizen to Base

• Nov 4, 13:00: Horizen L3 to Base bridging closes; snapshot taken

• Nov 5, 18:00: Base Denim activates; the L3 stops processing transactions

• Nov 7 (approximated): snapshot published for review

• Nov 15 (approximated) onward: DAO distributes remaining balances on Base

HAVE QUESTIONS?

Horizen Discord: https://discord.gg/xAwdQGnc7

SECURITY REMINDER

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