I published my first draft proposal for the Horizen ecosystem, a request for $ZEN migration. The ZEN IP 42405 draft came as a follow-up to Rob Viglione's vision for the future of the Horizen ecosystem. The Horizen co-founder published a blog post outlining that Horizen would become a “home for zero-knowledge" and the journey to Horizen 2.0 stared!

The Horizen proof verification network is known for the cost-effective settlement for modular blockchain stacks, one that is enabling Layer 2 adoption to grow exponentially. Why is this important? Because 2024 is hyping with ZK Dapp, and the modular blockchains are more important then ever.

EON 2.0 is a fully compatible EVM, ensuring that developers can seamlessly deploy existing Solidity smart contracts on EON 2.0 without requiring any modifications. EON 2.0 integrates tightly with the zkVerify protocol, ensuring fast and cost-efficient verification of zk proofs.

The expanded ecosystem will have full EVM compatibility, enhancing interoperability with other blockchains, opening up a world of possibilities for cross-chain collaborations and integrations. Unbound by design!

The ZenIP constituted a formal action by the Horizen community to direct the Horizen Foundation to request that its current technical service provider, Horizen Labs, develop a technical migration path for the EON blockchain and $ZEN token pursuant to the community discussion on this topic in recent weeks, and that Horizen Labs include an estimated timeline and cost.

It is the desire of the Horizen community that this work be undertaken as part of Horizen Lab’s existing services agreement with the Horizen Foundation as a technical provider to the Horizen ecosystem. The forum post reached 1,100 views and many comments, as the draft moved to snapshot!

The voting on ZenIP 42405: Directing the Horizen Foundation to Request a Migration Proposal for $ZEN and EON concluded with 99.99% of the votes in favor. It was followed by the ZenIP 42406 draft, focusing on the Technical Roadmap for the Migration of $ZEN and EON.

The rationale is to provide a clear vision for the community, and reassure them that there is a well-thought-out plan for the migration. The Technical Process and Deliverables will cover any details on the purpose/benefits of the migration, and should reference the community’s discussion and desires.

The proposal moved on snapshot and the voting on ZenIP 42406 closed and with 99.87% of the votes in favor.

Horizen 2.0 introduces more advanced features and optimizations to enhance the network performance, security, and utility of $ZEN. The "new" Horizen is optimized for ZK-based Apps, offering advanced and seamless integration with the ZKVprotocol. This ensures the most efficient process for all ZK projects.

This paves the way for innovative ZK apps that will make Horizen the home for Zero Knowledge protocols, and will provide more utility for the $ZEN tokens. The enhanced performance is achieved by incorporating the latest advancements in zero-knowledge proof systems, improving transaction speeds, and increasing security.

The expanded ecosystem with full EVM compatibility and cross-chain collaborations will break the barriers for partnerships. This means more opportunities and partnerships for the Horizen community, and improvements that will foster a better environment for both users and developers.

The migration is designed to be thorough and efficient, with an estimated timeline of roughly 8 months and a projected development cost of $1.5M - $2.5M from the start of development to Mainnet. All this news are making me bullish!

While we were waiting for more updates that will lead to Horizen 2.0, the new explorer for Horizen EON was deployed. The new explorer comes with efficient operation, enhanced maintainability and a better UI.

User can check their EON transactions on a page that is decoupled from the backend for better performance. It is easier to use, updated and enhanced with new features. The UI is built with React for a sleek and responsive user experience!