Cryptopedia - Horizen
## What Is Horizen (ZEN)? Horizen is a modular privacy-first platform designed to make privacy technology, such as zero-knowledge proofs and TEEs accessible and usable across the web. Originally launched in 2017 as a fair launch, non-ICO project, Horizen is now undergoing a major evolution with the launch of Horizen 2.0, a next-generation Layer 3 (L3) appchain deployed on Base, the Ethereum Layer 2 developed by Coinbase. Horizen 2.0 delivers performance, privacy, and scalability for developers building privacy-enabled and compliance-friendly applications, with significantly reduced cost and latency. At the core of the ecosystem is ZEN, the native utility token used for governance, accessing privacy services, and fueling zkApp interactions. With its migration to Base, ZEN becomes an ERC-20 token, improving liquidity, interoperability, and composability across the broader Ethereum ecosystem.
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