---
title: "ZetaChain (ZETA)"
url: "https://caper.network/wiki/daos/networks/zetachain"
updated: 2026-11-08
license: CC-BY-4.0
license_url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
---

# ZetaChain (ZETA)

| Type | Layer 1 network DAO (Cosmos SDK chain), winding down |
| --- | --- |
| Governance token | $ZETA (staking and governance) |
| Governance mechanism | Cosmos SDK `x/gov`: on-chain, stake-weighted |
| Mainnet | 1 February 2024 ([whitepaper](https://www.zetachain.com/whitepaper.pdf)) |
| Voting rules | 72-hour vote, 40% quorum, more than 50% Yes to pass, 33.4% veto ([gov parameters](https://zetachain-api.polkachu.com/cosmos/gov/v1/params/tallying)) |
| Decision | Shut down the L1 and move $ZETA to Solana: [Proposal 68](https://hub.zetachain.com/governance/proposal/68) (direction), [Proposal 70](https://hub.zetachain.com/governance/proposal/70) (mechanism and dates) |
| Status | 🟢 Active; the chain halts at block 20,755,000, expected around 9 December 2026 |
| Website | [zetachain.com](https://www.zetachain.com) |

**ZetaChain** is a proof-of-stake Layer 1 blockchain, launched on 1 February 2024, on which one smart contract could hold and move assets on Ethereum, Bitcoin, Solana and other chains without wrapping or a bridge ([whitepaper](https://www.zetachain.com/whitepaper.pdf)). Its holders govern it on-chain with $ZETA, and in two votes in September and November 2026 they decided to shut the chain down and move $ZETA to Solana as a native token, one for one under the same ticker. The chain halts at block 20,755,000, expected around 9 December 2026, and is not restarted ([Proposal 70](https://hub.zetachain.com/governance/proposal/70)).

It is the second network in this directory to leave its own chain for Solana by holder vote, after [Helium](/wiki/daos/networks/helium) in 2023.

## How did ZetaChain vote to shut down its own chain?[](#how-did-zetachain-vote-to-shut-down-its-own-chain)

In two proposals, the first deciding the direction and the second the terms. [Proposal 68](https://hub.zetachain.com/governance/proposal/68), "Migrate ZETA to Solana", ran from 17 to 20 September 2026 and passed with 99.4% of votes in favour: about 264m $ZETA Yes against 0.7m No and 0.8m Abstain ([on-chain tally](https://zetachain-api.polkachu.com/cosmos/gov/v1/proposals/68)). It approved making $ZETA an SPL token on Solana and winding down the L1 once holders and connected-chain assets had moved, and said a second proposal would set the dates and that nothing would move before it passed.

The team's case, in the [announcement](https://www.zetachain.com/blog/bringing-zeta-and-private-ai-to-solana) of 17 September and the proposal text, is that running its own chain no longer helped it build its product, Anuma, a private AI app that had passed 300,000 users since February 2026 and whose successor on Solana is ZetaLabs. As a Cosmos SDK chain, ZetaChain had to coordinate every upstream security patch across dozens of independent validators.

[Proposal 70](https://hub.zetachain.com/governance/proposal/70), "Migrate ZETA to Solana: Mechanism, Dates, and Holder Protections", was submitted on 4 November and closed on 7 November 2026. It passed with about 313.6m $ZETA voting Yes and 420 $ZETA voting No ([on-chain tally](https://zetachain-api.polkachu.com/cosmos/gov/v1/proposals/70)), roughly 83% of the 376m $ZETA staked on 8 November ([staking pool](https://zetachain-api.polkachu.com/cosmos/staking/v1beta1/pool)). Under the Cosmos SDK's rules a delegator who does not vote inherits their validator's vote; the [Cosmos Hub](/wiki/daos/networks/cosmos-hub) page explains how that and the tally work.

## What happens to $ZETA holders?[](#what-happens-to-zeta-holders)

Proposal 70 sets the steps:

- **Snapshot.** At block 20,755,000 every balance is recorded per address, staked, unbonding and unclaimed rewards included, so nobody needs to unstake. The same block is the halt.
- **Mint.** The ZetaChain Foundation mints the snapshot total as an SPL token on Solana, part of it early for exchanges and the rest into a vault the migration program owns, then revokes the mint authority.
- **Claim.** From 9 December 2026 a holder signs a message at the ZetaHub migration portal naming a Solana wallet and receives the full snapshot balance, with no fee. The minimum is 10 $ZETA, and the path is one-way.

$ZETA held in smart contracts and pools cannot be claimed by a key, so holders are told to unwrap and exit pools before the snapshot. Exchanges convert their customers' balances on windows they announce themselves. The 600m $ZETA issued as an ERC-20 on Ethereum is unchanged, and the maximum supply stays 2.1bn less a burn ([whitepaper](https://www.zetachain.com/whitepaper.pdf)).

## What happens to validators and bridged assets?[](#what-happens-to-validators-and-bridged-assets)

Staking rewards stop at the snapshot block. About 55m $ZETA of the 210m set aside for validator rewards will not have been paid out by then; the Foundation burns it in twelve monthly instalments through 2027, and the 2.5% yearly issuance planned from the chain's fourth year never starts ([Proposal 70](https://hub.zetachain.com/governance/proposal/70)).

Cross-chain transfers had already ended: inbound transfers were disabled in June 2026 and withdrawals closed on 1 July. Holders of bridged ZRC-20 tokens claim the underlying asset on its original chain from 9 December, except balances worth less than $5 per token and tokens held in pools or contract wallets. ZetaScan and a read-only archive node stay up until at least 31 October 2027.

## How Caper approaches this[](#how-caper-approaches-this)

ZetaChain's holders could change everything by vote, the chain's own existence included, and a holder who voted No still moves to Solana on the same terms or does not move at all. A [caper](/wiki/foundations/what-is-a-caper) runs on Radix rather than a chain of its own, and a member who disagrees with where it is heading does not have to wait for a migration: any member who has voted can [leave at any time](/wiki/foundations/leaving-a-caper) with their fair share of the treasury. The [exit rights](/wiki/dao-governance/concepts/membership/rage-quit-and-exit-rights) page compares this with Moloch's ragequit, and [winding down a DAO](/wiki/dao-governance/concepts/analysis/dao-wind-downs) covers other DAOs that voted to close.