What is Horizen (ZEN)?

What is (ZEN) and How Does it Work?

Say hello to ZEN, a digital currency that puts privacy and security at the forefront. Based on Bitcoin’s code, this cryptocurrency takes things up a notch by ensuring your transactions are completely anonymous and encrypted.

With its secret sauce, ZK-SNARKs, ZEN can confirm transactions without spilling the beans about who’s involved or how much is being sent. This means you can enjoy total privacy when making online transactions.

But wait, there’s more! ZEN also lets you set up secure nodes for better network safety and add two-factor verification to your wallet. Plus, it runs a decentralized organization, giving everyone a say in big decisions like funding and network upgrades.

In a nutshell, ZEN is the go-to cryptocurrency for those who value privacy, security, and decentralization.

Source: horizon.io

Background and History

Origins and founders of Horizen (previously known as ZenCash)

ZenCash’s journey started as a part-time endeavor, but as the project expanded, it became evident that the name and focus needed to evolve. The team encountered various challenges along the way, from tackling a zero-day attack to formalizing the leadership structure and establishing crucial collaborations with partners like IOHK, Code Particle, and InfoPulse. These partnerships played a significant role in the project’s growth, contributing to scaling research, network anonymity protocols, and sidechain development.

As the project diversified its product offerings, including a treasury voting system and smart contracting capabilities, the name “ZenCash” no longer accurately represented its scope. Moreover, the growing confusion with ZCash and a large international bank’s concerns about the similarity between the ZenCash logo and their sister organization’s logo made rebranding essential.

The team partnered with BrandTuitive to develop a new brand identity that truly captured the project’s mission and goals. The result was Horizen, a name that resonated with both the team and the community while maintaining the ZEN ticker symbol for the cryptocurrency. This transformation enabled Horizen to become a more versatile and robust blockchain ecosystem that continues to thrive, adapt, and grow stronger with each challenge it overcomes.

Key milestones and developments

ZEN aims to provide secure and scalable solutions for many use cases, including dApps, privacy-preserving transactions, and sidechain integration. Here are some key milestones and developments of Horizen:

1. With the intention of developing a private and secure cryptocurrency that could be used for regular transactions, Horizen first appeared in May 2017 under the name ZenCash.
2. In order to better represent its larger goal of creating a blockchain ecosystem that is privacy-focused, ZenCash changed its name to Horizen in November 2018.
3. The first-ever privacy-preserving sidechain protocol, known as Zendoo, was introduced by Horizen in December 2018. As a result, developers may create dApps on the Horizen blockchain while preserving their privacy and scalability.
4. Horizen and IOHK collaborated in February 2019 to perform research on zero-knowledge proofs, which may be used to improve security and privacy on the blockchain.
5. The Horizen Academy, a learning platform that offers free online courses and tutorials on blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, was introduced by Horizen in August 2019.
6. Horizen released its first decentralized application, Sphere by Horizen, in November 2019. This software enables users to send and receive private messages as well as conduct blockchain transactions.
7. A cooperation between Horizen and Infopulse, a well-known software development firm, was announced in June 2020 in order to create blockchain-based solutions for a variety of markets, including banking, healthcare, and logistics.
8. On Feb 17, 2023, our security team was notified of potential vulnerabilities in the ZEND node application that could allow an attacker to perform a Denial of Service attack against a node. In March of the same year, ZEND 3.3.0 was released to resolve the vulnerabilities.

We will analyze some of these products in the coming paragraphs.

Horizen’s Technology and Platform

Key components and features

Horizen prioritizes interoperability, security, and privacy. Its essential elements and characteristics include the following:

• Horizen Mainchain & Infrastructure: The platform’s primary blockchain and the hub of the Horizen ecosystem. Users may carry out transactions using its own cryptocurrency, ZEN, and it makes use of the safe and effective consensus process known as Equihash.
• Sidechain Technology: Horizen’s Zendoo sidechain technology enables programmers to build their own unique side chains that are linked to the Horizen mainchain. These side chains are capable of having unique tokens, rules, and consensus algorithms.
• ZenNodes: These are nodes run by Horizen community members who benefit the network and receive compensation in the form of ZEN. ZenNodes are in charge of verifying transactions and preserving the blockchain’s integrity.
• zk-SNARKs: Horizen’s privacy mechanism, known as zk-SNARKs, enables users to conduct secret blockchain transactions. Businesses and individuals that want to keep their financial transactions confidential will find this option to be very helpful.

Horizen Network & Infrastructure

Horizen’s Infrastructure boasts a robust and secure platform, powered by the largest and most distributed multi-tiered node network in the industry, with 45,455 active nodes. This extensive node network ensures that the Horizen platform is highly secure and resilient against malicious actors and power failures.

Node operators in the Horizen network receive 10% of the block reward, making it an attractive option for participants. The unique Horizen Secure Node system offers enhanced client-to-node and node-to-node encryption and is designed to rapidly and massively decentralize the blockchain network. This design aims to provide unparalleled censorship resistance and network capacity and establish the foundation for a high-performing privacy-oriented platform.

In just three months, the Horizen Secure Node system has achieved a node count rivaling that of Bitcoin. However, this is only the beginning. The next-generation system will offer significant upgrades to node tracking and payments, as well as lay the groundwork for a comprehensive application platform.

Horizen’s Zendoo

Zendoo is a fully decentralized sidechain platform that provides unmatched flexibility and robustness. Powered by the widely-adopted ZEN cryptocurrency, it is supported by a vast node infrastructure, ensuring maximum resilience and reliability. Zendoo leverages zk-SNARKS technology for cross-chain verifiable transactions without the need for third-party validators, enabling a scalable ecosystem with high throughput and low transaction fees.

This platform offers developers complete customization for their blockchains, including consensus, speed, privacy, and crypto-economy options. Its modular protocol prioritizes functionality over design, enabling massive scalability and application design freedom. Developers can deploy any type of rule on the Horizen blockchain, as long as the interfaces conform to standards.

Zendoo’s built-in zero-knowledge privacy technology allows for auditable and privacy-preserving blockchain applications, catering to real-world requirements. It enables transaction verification without revealing identifiable information, ensuring confidentiality while maintaining validity.

With the largest node network and a zero-knowledge-enabled Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP), Horizen achieves scalability and decentralization. Its distributed node system ensures network scalability, reliability, security, and speed. The zk-SNARK technology allows the Horizen mainchain to verify sidechain transactions without knowing the sidechain structure or relying on third-party validators. This allows for massive throughput without compromising decentralization.

Finally, Zendoo SDKs provide best-in-class toolkits for building custom blockchains tailored to specific needs. These SDKs simplify development and enable developers to focus on their unique business logic and product features.

ZenNodes

Before introducing ZenNodes, let’s shortly dive into:

What is a Blockchain Node?

A blockchain node is a computer that runs the blockchain software, storing and validating transaction data to maintain a record of the blockchain’s history or to earn newly issued cryptocurrency through mining or block rewards. Nodes, operated by miners or validators, are crucial to blockchain networks as they provide security, transparency, and a tamper-proof transaction record.

The more nodes in a network, the greater its security, as a larger and geographically distributed set of nodes reduces the risk of censorship and single points of failure. For example, the Bitcoin network has over 11,000 nodes, while the Ethereum network has more than 10,000 nodes.

There are four types of nodes in the Bitcoin network: Full nodes, Light nodes, Archive nodes, and Miner/Validator nodes. Full nodes store the complete transaction history but do not earn mining rewards. Light nodes hold only necessary data for daily activities or faster transactions. Archive nodes preserve the entire transaction history and historical states of the blockchain, requiring more storage space. Miner/Validator nodes create new blocks by solving computational problems to validate transactions and obtain block rewards. They must run a full node to mine blocks and earn rewards.

ZenNodes Explained

Horizen Secure Nodes form a highly secure, distributed, and resilient network that powers the Horizen ecosystem, providing end-to-end encryption as the first blockchain network of its kind.

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Secure Nodes are an essential component of the Horizen network, designed to significantly decentralize the system and ensure censorship resistance across global jurisdictions. Full node operators who hold a valid SSL/TLS certificate, stake at least 42 ZEN in a transparent address (t-address), and successfully respond to at least 92% of challenges sent to shielded addresses (z-addresses) share 3.5% of mining rewards. This system upgrade introduces improvements in node uptime measurements, which are based on actual network peers’ connectivity rather than websocket connections.

Horizen’s support team assists with node set-up, ensuring the Secure Node network is a vital part of the Horizen platform. The founders identified potential weaknesses in blockchain infrastructure, such as security, privacy, communication integrity between nodes, censorship resistance, and network resilience.

“Anyone can run a ZenNode and earn passive income, even without any technical skills.”

Horizen Secure Nodes distinguish themselves from standard nodes or masternodes through unique enhancements, providing end-to-end encrypted communication for enhanced security and privacy. Encrypted communications make it difficult to differentiate Secure Node traffic from regular encrypted traffic, ensuring censorship resistance.

By offering a dedicated reward pool (10% of the block reward), the network incentivizes Secure Node operators to maintain compliance and run Secure Nodes, increasing resilience and decentralization while demonstrating the “power in numbers” principle.

The new Secure Node version introduces enhancements, such as implementing all logic at the protocol level within the core code, providing a fully decentralized node tracking system, and increasing Secure Node rewards to 10% of block rewards.

If you want to run a ZenNode, the following are the requirements: \

Super Nodes

Super Nodes, a new class of special nodes with higher requirements, are introduced to manage crucial network and system functions, such as hosting multiple services on sidechains, tracking and measuring Secure Node uptime, and queuing the node payment schedule for miners. Super Nodes transition tracking and payments on-chain, or within protocol, is a significant change from the current system that relies on external server clusters. Additionally, the introduction of sidechaining transforms Horizen from a pure cryptocurrency into a versatile platform for an unlimited array of services.

Some potential services planned for the Horizen infrastructure include distributed file storage (ZenPub), secure messaging (ZenChat), a computation-for-rent system similar to AWS’s Lambda Functions (ZenGrid), zero-delay payments (InstantZen), and a decentralized exchange (ZenXchange) with a fully collateralized price-stable asset called ZenUSD (USDZ).

If you want to run a Zen SuperNode, the following are the requirements:

The Super Node network, like the Secure Node network, has improved point-to-point encryption. Super Nodes are tasked with managing key network and system functions such as hosting multiple services on sidechains, tracking and measuring Secure Node uptime, and queuing the node payment schedule for miners.

ZK-SNARKs for privacy

What are ZK-SNARKs?

zk-SNARKs (Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge), introduced by University of Berklee professor Alessandro Chiesa in a 2012 paper, are a type of zero-knowledge proof that is both ‘succinct’ and ‘non-interactive.’ Succinct proofs have a small data size and can be easily verified using a custom algorithm, while non-interactive proofs require the prover to validate a statement or transaction against a hash function simulator, representing the verifier. zk-SNARKs rely on a trusted setup, which involves creating private keys during an event to enable counterparties to construct the required proof for validating transactions. This trusted setup model has faced criticism due to its dependence on trusted third parties for creating private keys, leading to potential centralization. If private keys are not destroyed and fall into the wrong hands, false proofs could be constructed, allowing bad actors to create new tokens fraudulently. However, zk-SNARKs offer advantages such as wider development adoption and support, smaller proof sizes, and lower gas costs on the Ethereum network.

Horizen’s zk-SNARKs

Horizen, a leading blockchain platform focused on privacy and decentralization, has harnessed the power of zk-SNARKs to enhance its ecosystem. This innovative technology, initially proposed for zero-knowledge protocols, has proven invaluable for addressing scalability challenges and securing information.

zk-SNARKs enable succinct constant-size proofs of nearly any computation, allowing for efficient state transition proofs for virtually any number of transactions. Horizen’s sidechain construction is inspired by these techniques, setting it apart from other blockchain platforms. One notable comparison can be made with ZK Rollup, a layer 2 solution for scaling transaction throughput in Ethereum. However, Horizen’s implementation differs in that it does not push sidechain transaction data to the mainchain, thus optimizing its approach to scalability.

By incorporating zk-SNARKs into its ecosystem, Horizen has significantly improved the security and efficiency of its blockchain network. As the technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see even more innovative applications of zk-SNARKs within the Horizen platform, further solidifying its position as a leader in privacy and decentralization.

Horizen Development Environment (HDE)

The Horizen Developer Environment (HDE) is a comprehensive platform designed to streamline the process of contributing to the Horizen blockchain ecosystem. By consolidating open GitHub issues and tasks from various repositories, HDE simplifies the contribution experience and offers rewarding opportunities for both individuals and teams.

In addition to serving as a practical tool, HDE also functions as an educational resource and social platform for developers of all skill levels. It enables members to collaborate with Horizen’s engineering team and developers from around the globe, working on cutting-edge technologies.

HDE plays a crucial role in the growth and development of the Horizen ecosystem, providing easy access to project-specific resources, Contribution, Developer, Review, and Maintainer Policies, all within a single platform.

The HDE addresses the challenges often associated with contributing to open-source projects, such as navigating repositories, understanding project structures, and communicating with teams. The platform offers a user-friendly search function and filtering options for locating tasks, as well as relevant information to assist in resolving issues effectively.

HORIZEN Eon

Worth mentioning: HorizenEON is an EVM-compatible sidechain in the Horizen ecosystem that enables you to easily access a new ecosystem. Visit here.

Horizen’s consensus mechanism

The Equihash algorithm, a kind of Proof-of-Work (PoW), serves as the foundation for the Horizen consensus mechanism. This algorithm is created to be ASIC-resistant, which makes it less susceptible to centralization and promotes broader user engagement.

ZEN Cryptocurrency

Purpose and utility

The ZEN cryptocurrency serves a variety of functions and has several uses. Some of the principal use cases are as follows:

• Payment: Like other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, ZEN may be used as a form of payment for products and services.
• Staking: Users may stake ZEN to protect the network and receive incentives. This promotes user participation in the network and aids in preserving the blockchain’s integrity.
• Voting: In Horizen’s DAO, where decisions are made by the community, ZEN may be used for voting. This gives users a say in how the platform is developed and where it will go in the future.

ZEN may be used to finance platform development initiatives. This encourages development and innovation inside the Horizen ecosystem.

Ultimately, ZEN is intended to be a versatile utility token that can be utilized across the Horizen platform. It gives users a means to engage with the network, support its growth, and profit from its success.

Token economics and distribution

The distribution of the 21 million coins in the total supply of the ZEN cryptocurrency is comparable to that of other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. With an emphasis on long-term sustainability and development, ZEN’s token economics and distribution are created to be fair and equal.

The following are some significant facets of Zen’s token economy and distribution:

• Mining rewards account for the majority of ZEN token distribution. A part of the freshly minted ZEN coins are distributed to miners as compensation for protecting the network and validating transactions. This guarantees a decentralized and equitable allocation of tokens.
• In addition to mining benefits, Secure Node operators also get paid in ZEN for their network-building efforts. This encourages the upkeep of a reliable and secure network.
• Horizen has a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that oversees a ZEN currency treasury. This treasury is intended to finance community projects, ecosystem-friendly development projects, and other efforts.
• Early investors and the Horizen team will each receive a tiny portion of the ZEN token supply. The team will have a long-term motivation to work on the project and further its success because of this frequent approach among cryptocurrency initiatives.

ZEN’s token economics and distribution are built to encourage the equal distribution of tokens and to reward network growth, development, and security.

Wallets and exchanges

Wallets:

• Sphere: The Horizen team created the Horizen Wallet called Sphere, which is the recognized wallet for ZEN. It provides features like secure node administration and private communications and is accessible on PC and mobile devices.
• Ledger Wallet: The Ledger hardware wallet offers high levels of security for storing your tokens and supports ZEN.
• Trezor Wallet: Another well-liked choice for safely storing cryptocurrency, the Trezor hardware wallet also supports ZEN.

Exchange:

Gate.io is a popular cryptocurrency exchange that offers a platform for trading a wide variety of cryptocurrencies. One of the cryptocurrencies listed on Gate.io is Horizen (ZEN), users can buy and sell Horizen using USDT. Follow these steps to start trading cryptocurrency on Gate.io:

Step 1 - Create an Account on Gate.io

Step 2 - Complete KYC & Security Verification

Step 3 - Fund your Account to Buy Crypto

For more information, click on the link below:

https://www.gate.io/how-to-buy

Conclusion

News on ZEN and Future Developments

Horizen has made tremendous advancements in the cryptocurrency sector with a number of recent collaborations and breakthroughs. The platform announced a collaboration with IOTA in February 2021 to make atomic exchanges between ZEN and IOTA possible. This will make it possible to swap the two cryptocurrencies without the use of a middleman. The platform has also disclosed a number of new alliances with top blockchain and tech firms, including Celsius Network, BitMax, and LunarCRUSH.

With the most recent introduction of its Horizen Development Environment (HDE) in March 2021, Horizen has furthermore proceeded to enhance its technologies and platform. Decentralized applications may be simply developed, tested, and deployed on the Horizen platform thanks to this development environment.

Is ZEN a good investment?

When choosing to invest in ZEN, it is crucial to do extensive research and take into account a number of variables. It is important to keep in mind that cryptocurrencies may be unpredictable and vulnerable to market changes, which may affect the value of assets.

Having said that, ZEN has had rapid growth and popularity recently and has a sizable development and supporting community. The platform may be positioned for future development and success because of its emphasis on privacy, security, and compatibility with other blockchain systems.

How can you own ZEN

Many cryptocurrency exchanges, like Gate, offer ZEN for sale. The platform’s safe and super node programs, which honor node operators for enhancing the security and decentralization of the network, also allow users to earn ZEN.

Take action on ZEN

If you are interested in supporting the Horizen platform, there are several actions you can take. You can purchase ZEN on gate.io, contribute to the platform’s secure and super node programs, or participate in the platform’s development community by contributing to its open-source codebase. You can join their academy where you will find professionally written articles on subjects like cryptocurrency, decentralized ledger technology, and the fascinating world of Web 3.

For more information, check the links below:

https://www.gate.io/price/horizen-zen

https://www.gate.io/trade/ZEN_USDT