Horizen (ZEN)USD

Horizen is an EVM-compatible, privacy-focused blockchain ecosystem built to support private decentralized finance and decentralized applications using zero-knowledge technology. Rob Viglione and Rolf Versluis created the project, launching it in May 2017 under the name ZenCash. It was later rebranded to Horizen as the ecosystem expanded. The original mainchain launched in 2017 as a fair-launch, non-ICO network, and the ZEN token migrated to Base as an ERC-20 in July 2025. The current Horizen 2.0 design uses Delegated Proof of Stake consensus and integrates with the OP Stack on Base, operating as a Layer-3 appchain. The native token, ZEN, is used for governance, staking, ecosystem coordination, and application-level utility, including accessing privacy services and fueling zero-knowledge application interactions. It does not serve as the primary gas token for on-chain transactions. ZEN has a fixed maximum supply of 21,000,000 tokens, with emissions declining over time in a Bitcoin-style scarcity model. Horizen is designed as infrastructure for developers and users who want privacy-preserving, auditable, and compliance-compatible decentralized applications.