Horizen, one of the crypto sector’s long-running privacy projects, has officially relaunched as a Layer 3 network on Base. The move marks the latest step in a years-long shift away from its original proof-of-work roots and toward a more modern, developer-focused ecosystem.
The ZEN mainnet went live on Base on Tuesday, completing a transition that began in February when the Horizen DAO voted to deprecate its legacy blockchain. While interest in privacy-focused tokens has picked up again, Horizen’s relaunch is less about technology and more about governance. According to Horizen Labs CEO Rob Viglione, only a small portion of the old chain’s infrastructure is carrying over, but the process has helped revive a nine-year-old community.
“There’s value in having a project that actually follows through,” Viglione said. “It’s rare to see a 2016 project evolve into something modern without losing its original identity.”
A Long Road From ZenCash to Layer 3
Horizen’s history stretches back to 2017, when it first launched as ZenCash. After a rebrand in 2018, the team built the Zendoo sidechain framework in 2020 and introduced its EVM-compatible sidechain, EON, in 2023.
The latest iteration focuses on making privacy a practical tool for builders on Base, the Coinbase-supported Layer 2 that has gained traction across the industry. Horizen Labs plans to support development with a 100 million ZEN funding program over the next five years, targeting applications that range from confidential financial tools to gaming and social apps.
A “Reg-Compliant” Approach to Privacy
Horizen is positioning itself in what it calls the “regulatory-compliant” privacy segment. Its design relies on selective disclosure, meaning users can opt in to privacy while still allowing oversight where required.
Viglione says this direction reflects how global rules are evolving.
“The U.S. government and others are not going to accept entirely unbounded financial flows,” he said. “If you want mass adoption, you need to integrate with the world as it is.”
Andrew Throuvalas
The team has already made practical adjustments. In 2023, under increasing regulatory pressure and exchange delistings of privacy coins, Horizen removed shielded transactions from its mainnet. Today, ZEN trades on major exchanges including Binance, Coinbase, Bitget, ByBit, and OKX, while Grayscale continues to offer a ZEN investment trust.
Horizen is also developing new privacy infrastructure. A Confidential Compute Environment using trusted execution environments is set to roll out next quarter. The idea is to allow developers to plug in region-specific modules that meet local compliance standards, such as revealing certain data to authorities only when needed.
Refocusing on Execution
Moving to a Layer 3 has changed how Horizen Labs operates. Instead of maintaining a full blockchain stack, the roughly 70-person team can concentrate on middleware and higher-level features.
“We used to build everything from scratch, which meant we moved slowly,” Viglione said.
Now, the project relies on partners like Caldera, LayerZero, Stork, and Den. Its bridge to Base uses LayerZero’s Stargate system.
Horizen could have launched on several networks, including Arbitrum Orbit, where the team previously worked on ApeChain. But Viglione said the Base ecosystem offered stronger distribution and clearer alignment with leaders at Coinbase, who have recently signaled renewed support for privacy technologies.
A Community-Driven Relaunch
Horizen has survived nearly a decade with relatively little venture funding compared to newer Layer 1 projects. Much of its token supply was mined rather than sold, which the team says has contributed to a more distributed community and less outside pressure.
DAO discussions that began more than a year ago eventually led to a clear vision: turn Horizen into a multilevel privacy hub for the expanding Base ecosystem. In time, developers could route transactions through Horizen with a simple privacy toggle.
The team acknowledges that the shift could have happened sooner but says the timing now feels right.
“We could have been an L2 or stayed an L1,” Viglione said. “The real goal is to bring all things privacy into one environment, tightly connected to Base’s liquidity and distribution.”
