Horizen Blog — Horizen is the ecosystem for private DeFi. EVM-native, built on Base. — Page 4

Privacy, Reimagined

Imagine trying to run a major investment fund from an office made of glass. Every client, every balance, and every single move is visible to the entire world, in real-time. Would you do it? Would you show your most sensitive strategies to your competitors? This is the reality of public blockchains today: while a public ledger excels at auditing, its "transparency problem" renders it unsuitable for practical, real-world applications over sensitive data. But what is the alternative? Total secre...

Horizen Appchain Testnet is Live with DarkSwap: Private, Bot-Proof DeFi Arrives on Base

In DeFi, the promise of openness has a hidden cost: vulnerability. Every trade is visible, every strategy exposed. MEV bots exploit your moves. Front-runners take your edge. As one of the earliest projects focused on blockchain privacy, we’re now rewriting the DeFi playbook. Following the successful migration of our native token ZEN to an ERC-20 on Base, we have officially launched our appchain testnet on Base, debuting Singularity’s DarkSwap as the first application in our new privacy-focuse...

Horizen Based: ZEN is Now Live on Base

Today marks a major milestone in Horizen’s evolution - Horizen has completed its migration to Base, and ZEN is now officially live as an ERC-20 token on Base, unlocking liquidity, powerful DeFi integrations, and laying a foundation for a new frontier for private finance.This milestone marks the beginning of a new era for Horizen, as we evolve from our legacy UTXO chain into a modular appchain ecosystem built for the next wave of privacy-enabled DeFi.ERC20 ZEN Smart Contract on Base: https://b...

The Final Horizen Mainnet Node Software Upgrade: ZEN 6.0.0 & EON 1.5.0 Are Available to Download

The last and final mainnet node upgrade for Horizen is here. These releases will activate the migration to Base and sunset the legacy chain.About ZEN 6.0.0 - Final Mainchain ZEND ReleaseThe new version ZEN 6.0.0 is available to download on GitHub and via Docker. It is the official release for Horizen Mainnet and Testnet. This is the last and final ZEN update, and it will trigger the Horizen migration to Base.⚠️ ACTION REQUIRED: All nodes running on Mainnet must update to ZEN 6.0.0 before July...

Get Ready for ZEN Migration: Move Your wZEN and DeFi Tokens Off EON Before July 23

Horizen is migrating to Base on July 23, 2025, and the EON network will be winding down.⚠️ Only native ZEN will be captured in the snapshot. Wrapped ZEN (wZEN) and tokens in DeFi pools will not be migrated automatically.📢 To make sure your funds are included in the migration, you must take action before the July 23 snapshot date.What You Need to DoExit all DeFi pools on EONUnwrap your wZEN into native ZENBridge non-native tokens back to their original chain. Use Archon or Wanchain, depending...

Horizen Sponsors zkHack Berlin Hackathon - Let’s Build What’s Next in ZK

Join us at zkHack Berlin Hackathon, where we’re bringing Relayer, zkVerify’s new REST API service for ZK proof verification, along with $1,000 in bounties for the best zkApps. 🗓 Date: 20–22 June 2025 📍 Location: w3.hub, Möckernstraße 120, 10963 BerlinThis hackathon is the first stepping stone for projects aiming to secure funding from the Horizen Grants Program, opening doors for long-term support and incubation post-hackathon. We’re especially excited to connect with builders exploring adv...

ZEN Migration Safety Checklist: Don’t Get Scammed

As Horizen prepares to migrate ZEN to an ERC-20 token on Base, security is your first priority. Migrations are prime targets for scammers — and a few simple precautions can protect your assets. This guide outlines the key practices to keep your ZEN safe throughout the process.Core Principles: Your First Line of Defense✅ Trust Only Official SourcesAlways rely on official Horizen communication channels:Website: horizen.ioDocs: horizen-2-docs.horizen.ioGitHub: github.com/HorizenOfficialVerified ...

Testnet is Live - Test Your ZEN Migration Ahead of Mainnet

As Horizen prepares for the upcoming migration to its new appchain on Base, we’re inviting the community to participate in a testnet dry run. This dry run is a vital part of ensuring a successful and secure migration for everyone. It is also your chance to experience the migration process first-hand, including claiming test ZEN from both the Horizen Mainchain Testnet and EON Gobi Testnet before real assets are involved.Get familiar with the process — Learn how to claim ZEN across both Horizen...

Dual Security Audits Completed Ahead of Base Migration

As we gear up to launch our migration on Base, security and user trust remain our top priorities. We’re excited to share that Horizen has successfully completed two independent security audits, conducted by Cantina, covering both our smart contracts and claiming tools users will use to claim and manage their assets.Why Security Audits Matter for Everyday UsersCrypto needs systems you can verify and use with confidence. Security audits aren’t just for developers. They directly affect you, the ...

The Broken Promise of DeFi

DeFi was supposed to be our escape. It promised a permissionless, borderless, bankless finance. A parallel world where control shifted from institutions to individuals. But DeFi forgot to lock the door behind us somewhere along the way. Every on-chain action, from token transactions to staking yields, is visible to anyone with a block explorer and a basic blockchain understanding. We escaped the bank, but walked straight into a glasshouse. And while we can still move our money freely, the wor...

Build Smarter dApps with Real-Time Data on Horizen

Horizen is integrating Goldsky, Web3’s real-time data platform, to provide high-performance blockchain indexing, instant subgraphs, and customizable data streaming pipelines. This integration gives developers the tools to build powerful dApps faster, with richer data and greater responsiveness on Horizen. Goldsky streams live blockchain data directly into applications, enabling advanced analytics, automated workflows, and interactive experiences across Horizen’s privacy-first ecosystem. Horiz...

Welcome to Privacy on Base

A new chapter for onchain privacy begins today. Horizen has officially launched its mainnet on Base, bringing a practical and compliance-friendly path to private onchain activity - one that fits seamlessly into the Ethereum environment millions already use. This launch completes our transition from an isolated proof-of-work chain to a fully EVM-native chain that settles to Ethereum. For everyday users, this shift means faster transactions, lower fees, and access to tools and apps that feel fa...

ZenIP 42409: ZenIP 42407 Addendum, Horizen 2.0 Tokenomics Proposal

There is a new ZenIP Proposal that recently passed, ZenIP 42409, which is an Addendum to ZenIP 42407: Horizen Tokenomics Proposal. The timeline for the vote on ZenIP 42409 was that voting opened on Monday, April 21st, 2025, at 12pm EST, and closed on Thursday, April 24th, 2025, at 12pm EST. With a quorum of 142% and 99.39% (1.1M $ZEN) of the votes FOR, the proposal passed! The full results of the vote can be found on Snapshot here. Let’s review this ZenIP proposal below, and we’ll also remind...

How to Stake ZEN on Horizen Mainnet

ZEN Staking is Open. Stake Now before Reward Distribution Begins on Monday, July 27.

• Privacy
• Horizen
• Staking

Trade With Proof, Not Trust: How Obscura Is Making Reputation Private and Verifiable

Horizen Ecosystem Builder Spotlight: Obscura

• Privacy
• Verification
• Zk

$ZEN Staking is Back on Horizen

The Horizen DAO voted to approve a new $ZEN staking program on Horizen, aligning token holders with long-term ecosystem growth and participation.

• $zen
• Staking
• Horizen