Horizen (ZEN) is a privacy-focused blockchain protocol designed to support confidential DeFi, secure enterprise applications, and scalable decentralised ecosystems. It combines advanced privacy technologies such as zero-knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs) and Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) to enable private, auditable, and regulatory-compliant transactions across multiple industries.
The network’s multi-layered design allows developers and institutions to build privacy-enabled applications that maintain transparency where required. The ZEN token serves as the native asset of the ecosystem, used for transaction fees, staking, node rewards, and governance. With a fixed maximum supply of 21 million tokens, Horizen mirrors Bitcoin’s scarcity model while maintaining one of the largest active node networks in blockchain, with over 43,000 nodes securing the system.
Horizen operates on a multi-layered architecture that separates its Proof-of-Work (Equihash) mainchain from a network of scalable sidechains built using the Zendoo protocol. This framework allows sidechains to operate independently, each capable of using its own consensus model such as Proof-of-Stake (PoS), enabling flexibility and scalability for diverse decentralised applications.
Privacy within the ecosystem is maintained through a suite of cryptographic technologies, including zk-SNARKs, zk-Rollups, Multiparty Computation (MPC), and Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE). These enable privacy-preserving smart contracts and EVM-compatible dApps without compromising performance or compliance.
Horizen also employs recursive SNARKs to strengthen sidechain security and cross-chain interoperability, ensuring seamless communication between the mainchain, its sidechains, and external networks.
Horizen provides privacy and scalability infrastructure for a wide range of blockchain applications:
The ZEN token is central to these functions, powering staking, node operations, governance, and transaction fees across the mainchain and its sidechains.