OGAudit Web3 Research: @horizenglobal $ZEN - Rebuilt on Base as a Confidential Compute Layer Horizen completed a full migration in July 2025, converting ZEN from an independent Layer 1 into an ERC-20 token and relaunching as a Layer 3 privacy appchain built directly on Coinbase’s Base network. The Zendoo sidechain model the project ran for years has been replaced entirely. - The architecture pairs an OP Stack L3 (settling proofs on Base) with a TEE-based Confidential Compute Environment which is a deliberate tradeoff since general ZK proofs and homomorphic encryption remain too slow for real time use but the system supports selective audit ability so regulators can get controlled access without full public exposure. - Fee revenue in ETH, USDC or ZEN flows into a vault that periodically buys back ZEN on the open market then burned or reinvested via the Thrive Builder Funding Program (200,000 ZEN across 25-50 privacy projects in Season 1). ZEN is no longer used for network security or as gas, it’s now a governance and value capture token modeled on Optimism’s OP. - Early applications building on the new stack include DarkSwap (bot resistant private order execution), ZENDEX (a ZK-powered private DEX) and Gamblor (provably fair gaming), all still early stage with the roadmap’s Phase 2 (confidential execution and compliance tooling) and Phase 3 (validity proofs replacing the current trust model) both still ahead rather than delivered. Is a genuine architectural reinvention, moving from an aging independent L1 to a privacy layer anchored directly to Base’s massive transaction volume a smart repositioning that could capture real institutional demand for compliant privacy or does relying on Trusted Execution Environments (hardware based trust, not pure cryptography) as the near term foundation mean Horizen is making a real security tradeoff that the whitepaper itself acknowledges it eventually wants to move away from? Category: Privacy / Layer 1 Coin Name: $ZEN Circulating Supply: 18.17M Market Cap: $74.87M Market Cap Rank: #278 OG (Trust) Score: 36.13 OG Score Rank: #214/954 Reviewed by 11 OG Auditors. See the Social Audit with Reviews by crypto OG’s and more on the $ZEN Coin page: ogaudit(.)com/crypto/horizen-zen https://t.co/epRRJh6zrl