$6.07

Horizen is a modular platform centered on privacy, aiming to make technologies like zero-knowledge proofs and trusted execution environments accessible across the web. It launched in 2017 without an initial coin offering. The project is evolving with Horizen 2.0, a Layer 3 appchain built on Base, which is Coinbase's Ethereum Layer 2 solution. This upgrade targets performance, privacy, and scalability for developers creating privacy-focused and compliant applications, with lower costs and latency. ZEN serves as the native token for governance, privacy services, and zkApp interactions. Following the migration to Base, ZEN becomes an ERC-20 token, enhancing liquidity and interoperability within the Ethereum ecosystem.

Horizen distinguishes itself through a privacy-first design that incorporates a variety of privacy-enhancing technologies, including zero-knowledge proofs, trusted execution environments, attribute-based encryption, multi-party computation, and fully homomorphic encryption. It is positioned as the first privacy appchain on Base, leveraging Ethereum's security and Base's scalability to offer a privacy layer for various applications. Horizen 2.0 aims to scale ZK privacy without typical trade-offs by partnering with infrastructure providers like Fermah, zkVerify, and Singularity to optimize proof generation. Additionally, ZEN's tokenomics have been updated, with 5 million unminted tokens allocated for ecosystem growth, governance, payments, and a sustainability fund.

Horizen 2.0 is an Ethereum-aligned Layer 3 appchain on Base, inheriting Ethereum's security while adding its own application-level integrity. The security model includes alignment with Ethereum through Base's rollup security and settlement on Ethereum, ensuring finality and composability with other layers. The architecture is simplified compared to previous versions, which used a hybrid PoW/PoS model, now focusing on application-level security and decentralization of privacy layers. Horizen also emphasizes decentralizing its privacy infrastructure, such as proof generation, to support modular and secure applications that maintain data confidentiality without sacrificing performance.