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Horizen

ZEN

  • Layer1
  • Infra
Established Year
2017
Operating Status
Active
Horizen is a blockchain ecosystem focused on privacy and scalability through side chains. It enables businesses and developers to create their own public or private blockchains and decentralized applications on its distributed network. The project uses a verifiable cross-chain transfer protocol called Zendoo as its sidechain solution, and features a zero-knowledge proof protocol (zk-SNARK) to ensure secure communications with the sidechains.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is Horizen (ZEN)?

Horizen is a zero-knowledge-enabled network of blockchains powered by the largest node infrastructure in the industry. Blockchain interoperability is enabled by the Zendoo protocol, which uses SNARK-verification and allows for complete flexibility in sidechain type, consensus, speed, and privacy. Cryptographic verification of networked chains offers massive scale, and the network currently supports up to 10,000 sidechains with a throughput limit of 10,000,000 TPS. Zendoo makes Horizen a permissionless network of blockchains. Developers can deploy their blockchains within the ecosystem using a variety of SDKs. The first set of SDKs, Blaze and Latus, deploy blockchains based on IOHK's provably secure Ouroboros proof-of-stake protocol. Blaze offers high-speed chains that declare their own certifiers and can run up to 1,000 TPS, while Latus uses a recursive SNARK composition for full decentralization. The next set of SDKs will include EVM integration for Ethereum smart contract compatibility. Horizen's native cryptocurrency, ZEN, is a mineable PoW coin currently trading on major exchanges, including Coinbase, Bittrex, and Binance. ZEN can be staked to participate in Horizen's nearly 50,000 full node network.