ZEN Horizen

What is Horizen?

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 is built as an Ethereum-aligned Layer 3 appchain on Base, inheriting Ethereum's security while implementing its own application-level integrity guarantees.

Key components of Horizen’s security model include:

**Ethereum-Aligned Security:** As an appchain deployed on Base, Horizen 2.0 benefits from Base’s rollup security and settlement on Ethereum, ensuring robust finality and composability with other L2 and L3 applications.

**Simplified and Secure Architecture:** Unlike Horizen’s previous iterations (which used a hybrid PoW/PoS model), Horizen 2.0 focuses on application-level security, decentralization of its privacy layers, and composability with existing infrastructure — reducing complexity and increasing user safety.

**Decentralized Privacy Stack:** Horizen’s focus on decentralizing privacy infrastructure (e.g., decentralized proof generation) allows for modular, secure applications that uphold data confidentiality without compromising performance.