ZetaChain to Shut Down L1 and Migrate to Solana, ZETA Price Surges 40%

Original ｜ Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)

Author | Golem (@web3_golem)

On September 20, the ZetaChain community approved Proposal 68, deciding to shut down ZetaChain L1, migrate the ZETA token to the Solana chain, and move ZetaChain’s privacy-focused multimodal AI application, Anuma, to the Solana ecosystem.

Under the proposal, ZETA will be converted on a 1:1 basis into a native Solana SPL token, retaining the “ZETA” ticker symbol and total supply of 2.1 billion, with the existing unlock schedule unchanged; ZETA on Ethereum and BNB Chain is not included in this migration.

As of the time of this writing, the shutdown time for ZetaChain L1 has not been determined. The community will still vote a second time to decide on the balance snapshot block, the shutdown block, token claiming, and asset withdrawal procedures. Until the exchange confirms the exchange arrangements, ZETA staking will continue. Therefore, before the specific migration method and timeline are announced, ZETA token holders and stakers do not need to take any action.

For ZetaChain, however, this is a proposal significant enough to transform its fundamentals—from a fully interoperable L1 to a consumer-grade AI project, shifting from infrastructure to an application layer on Solana. This is not a downgrade in narrative, but rather a rebirth for ZetaChain and ZETA. After the proposal passed, ZETA surged over 40% in a single day on September 21 and is currently trading near $0.05.

The community vote on the proposal to migrate ZetaChain to Solana achieved a 58% participation rate, exceeding the 40% quorum threshold. Opposing and abstaining votes each accounted for 0.3%, and the proposal was approved with 99.4% in favor, demonstrating strong community consensus on the migration.

ZetaChain was originally positioned as an L1 blockchain focused on full-chain interoperability, raising over $27 million in funding in 2023 and launching its mainnet in early 2024. However, in 2025, the crypto market entered a phase of skepticism toward technical narratives and VC-backed projects, with capital and attention shifting toward on-chain memes; “better cross-chain infrastructure” is no longer the primary market demand, and ZetaChain urgently needs to adapt.

As the tide of crypto innovation recedes, the AI tsunami has arrived. The surge of AI applications like ChatGPT and Claude has raised user privacy concerns, as large model providers use conversations between users and AI for training or commercial purposes. ZetaChain, leveraging its years of technical expertise, has identified new opportunities in this space.

In February of this year, ZetaChain launched its private AI application, Anuma, with ZetaChain providing technical support for Anuma’s private memory layer. Anuma integrates the capabilities of multiple advanced models into a unified experience, allowing users to seamlessly switch between models and migrate their context. Additionally, during use, each model can access only the context necessary for the current request, not the user’s full chat history or all prior interactions—no AI model provider can access user privacy data.

According to official data, Anuma has 305,881 registered users and has processed over 1.2 million requests from 35 AI models. Since then, ZetaChain has fully transformed from a cross-chain infrastructure into an application layer for private AI, dedicated to building AI applications that can operate across AI models while giving users control over their privacy.

Therefore, this proposal to shut down ZetaChain L1 and migrate the ZETA token and the Anuma project to Solana marks the final step for ZetaChain in abandoning its public chain narrative and transitioning toward an AI application-focused project. At the same time, this represents a mutually beneficial transformation for all parties involved.

ZetaChain explicitly stated in its proposal that migrating to Solana is necessary because “running our own L1 no longer enables us to build private AI.” Solana provides the technology stack ZetaChain needs to build private AI, including open models and compute power, agent identities, and agent payments via the x402 protocol—all designed for agent-scale operations with sub-second, sub-penny settlement. Most importantly, Solana supports wallets registered with Anuma.

For ZetaChain, migrating to an existing, well-established ecosystem is more worthwhile than building infrastructure from scratch. ZetaChain has also indicated that it will focus more on developing Anuma applications in the future.

Solana also benefits from this proposal, with ZetaChain gaining AI infrastructure and Solana gaining users.

Anuma currently has over 300,000 registered users; if these users successfully migrate to the Solana ecosystem, they will directly boost Solana’s user base, on-chain activity, and other key metrics. According to a report released by ZetaChain, of the 305,881 wallets created on Anuma, most users are using cryptocurrency products for the first time, indicating that these users are largely “pure” AI users.

The addition of these users will further strengthen Solana’s narrative and user base in consumer-grade AI applications. Therefore, when ZetaChain posted the proposal on X, Solana’s official account responded with a默契 interaction.

Solana official interaction with ZetaChain

At the same time, this proposal is also beneficial for ZETA holders. ZetaChain has one foot in the AI industry while still retaining its crypto DNA, providing new value to the ZETA token and transforming it from an L1 governance token into a utility token backed by actual products and users.

According to the proposal, after the migration, ZETA will become a private AI application layer token on Solana, with Anuma already empowering ZETA. Users can unlock Anuma Pro by locking 100,000 ZETA (valued at approximately $5,000); Anuma Pro is officially priced at $19.99 per month.

According to official data, over 490 million ZETA tokens have been locked, accounting for 23.47% of the total supply and valued at over $24 million.

ZetaChain’s ambitions on the Solana ecosystem extend beyond Anuma; its private AI memory layer enables users to carry and migrate their personal contextual data. ZetaChain plans to extend this capability to other AI applications and agents on Solana in the future, creating a unified private AI experience for users on Solana.

At that time, ZETA will also become the underlying token for all AI applications and agents built on the same private AI memory layer on Solana, leaving significant room for future narrative growth—this is the core reason why ZETA is expected to rise over 40% after the proposal passes.

The value capture mechanism of ZETA has been fundamentally transformed: previously, it captured value from ZetaChain network gas fees and ecosystem development; going forward, it will capture value from Anuma user growth and the development of Solana’s privacy AI ecosystem.

A blockchain named ZetaChain is about to shut down, but the new chapter of ZetaChain is just beginning.