What Is Horizen (ZEN) How It Works & Where To Buy It?

Horizen is a privacy-based blockchain protocol that aims to solve existing issues such as centralization, inadequate scalability, and inefficiency that the Ethereum network is plagued by.

ZEN is the native token of the Horizen protocol, and it is used to perform actions on the Horizen platform.

The ZEN token is currently the 135th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

 

How Horizen (ZEN) Works

The Horizen blockchain prioritizes privacy. The protocol makes use of zero-knowledge proofs to ensure that its native currency remains untraceable whenever transferred. The Horizen protocol also ensures that any interaction between individuals remains private.

This is especially appealing to users that seek to keep their sensitive data private and secure. The protocol achieves this through privacy solutions that are handled by smart contracts – ensuring a privacy-oriented environment where developers can design dApps and where users can interact through private messaging.

Secure nodes play an integral role in maintaining the functionality of the Horizen network. Some protocols dominate in different segments. However, Horizen is known for having the highest number of nodes in its network. The Horizon network has more than 40,000 nodes which dwarf any of its nearest competitors.

These nodes play different roles in the network and hope to ensure that the network remains completely decentralized and upholds the necessary privacy that users expect. Essentially, secure nodes function very similarly to full nodes and are tasked with optimizing the communication between various nodes.

Secure nodes have enhanced encryption and are responsible for preventing ”snooping” when nodes communicate. Additionally, the Horizen network has super nodes that are tasked with facilitating the hosting of sidechains.

Individuals that want an in-depth and more technical overview of the protocol can refer to the Horizen whitepaper.

 

What Is Horizen (ZEN) Used For?

The Horizen protocol is secured via a hybrid consensus mechanism. This ensures that Network participants are actively rewarded for their contributions. The Blockchain protocol is essentially a fork of Zcash, which is also a privacy protocol, and Horizen aims to solve the issues that traditional privacy protocols currently face.

The Horizen developer environment is especially appealing because of its simplicity, unlike many other privacy projects. The project is also focused on providing enhanced services and improving the downfalls of crypto payment providers.

The platform is also utilized by developers that want to be part of the Horizen Early Adopter Program, which essentially gives developers exclusive access to software and features before they are made available to the public.

Horizen offers more than many crypto payment providers that prioritize the development of private decentralized applications on private blockchains – Horizen is actively working to improve the infrastructure and systems that users utilize in everyday life.

The ZEN cryptocurrency has already been listed on many major cryptocurrency exchanges, and the Horizen blockchain ecosystem, which has the largest node networks, is expanding rapidly.

Furthermore, arbitrage and swing traders aim to capitalize on price volatility in the ZEN cryptocurrency. This can often be profitable, but note that this is incredibly risky.

 

Where To Buy Horizen (ZEN) Token

ZEN has become known as one of the most innovative cryptocurrencies because it is actively used in private/masked blockchain transactions.

ZEN coins are widely traded on the majority of centralized cryptocurrency exchanges. You must deposit fiat currency into an exchange before you may acquire ZEN; ZEN tokens will then be deposited into your digital wallet on the exchange.

The exchanges listed here are among the safest places to purchase, sell, and store tokens.

1. OKX
2. HTX
3. KuCoin
4. Binance

To secure their holdings, ZEN token holders often move their tokens to a digital wallet. They may simply link their wallets to a number of different decentralized platforms and make use of a number of different yield-generating DeFi goods.

It is strongly suggested that users transfer their tokens away from centralized exchanges since doing so gives them complete control over their crypto assets and private keys. This is one of the main reasons why this recommendation exists.

None of the abovementioned information is investment advice.

 

About Horizen (ZEN)

How long has Horizen (ZEN) existed?

The Horizen protocol was initially launched in May 2017 and was called ZenCash. The protocol differentiated itself from other blockchain projects by utilizing zero-knowledge proof technologies, innovative tokenomics, and a hybrid consensus mechanism that would reward stakeholders.

Later, ZenCash was compromised in an exploit where hackers attempted a 51% attack. Sequentially, the consensus mechanism was adjusted, and several penalties were implemented for nodes that were bad actors – essentially for late block reporting.

The adjusted solutions made were expected to make it more difficult for exploits to occur and reduce the possibility of a 51% attack. The protocol slowly started becoming more popular and decided to change its name after any individuals were getting confused between Zcash and ZenCash. Finally, in 2018, the project changed its name to Horizen.

What’s controversial about Horizen (ZEN)?

It is common knowledge that the cryptocurrency industry suffers from inadequate regulation worldwide. Therefore, before making any investments, users should always exercise caution and educate themselves as much as they can on the basics of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency.

Let’s take a look at the top controversy surrounding Horizen (ZEN):

• 51% Exploit – The Horizon protocol, formerly known as ZenCash, suffered a 51% attack. This led to many investors losing faith in the project, fearing the loss of their tokens. Hacks and exploits are common in the crypto space, and many projects that fall victim to these events often struggle to return as dominant crypto projects.

How many Horizen (ZEN) Tokens are there?

At the time of writing, Horizen (ZEN) has a circulating supply of 12,596,362.50 ZEN

The total supply of Horizen (ZEN) is 12,093,400

The max supply of Horizen (ZEN) is 21,000,000

Can Horizen (ZEN) be mined?

ZEN tokens can be mined. The blockchain uses a hybrid consensus mechanism which implements a proof of work consensus mechanism and a proof of stake consensus mechanism.

In addition, users have the opportunity to increase the returns on their ZEN tokens by engaging in DeFi products on decentralized platforms. These products include staking, liquidity pools, and farming.

Users are required to keep their ZEN tokens in a digital wallet so that they can simply link it to whatever decentralized platform they choose. This is a necessary step before utilizing DeFi products.

The decentralized cryptocurrency exchange known as PancakeSwap has become one of the most popular choices. Because it is built on Binance’s Build-and-build chain (BNB Chain), it is safe to use and offers reduced transaction fees.

Some centralized exchanges allow users to earn yields from staking their ZEN tokens.

What is the market cap of Horizen (ZEN)?

The market cap of Horizen (ZEN) is: the total amount of coins in circulation x the current market price of ZEN.

Horizen (ZEN) Market Cap = 12,596,362.50 ZEN x $14.66 = $184 million (133rd largest market cap)

ZEN is currently one of the top 150 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

 

Biggest Competitors Of Horizen (ZEN)

The privacy coin sector has been growing exponentially in recent years. There is a significant demand for decentralization and anonymous transactions, along with the creation of privacy-oriented decentralized applications. As such, the Horizen protocol is facing stiff competition in the privacy coin sector.

Horizen’s biggest competitors are:

• Zcash
• Monero
• Decred
• Oasis Protocol

 

What Are The Future Plans of Horizen (ZEN)?

The primary focus of the protocol will be on growing its user base, enhancing the utility of the ZEN token, and drawing more attention to the whole project. For the Horizen protocol to achieve its goal of becoming one of the most popular privacy currencies in the market, it must continue to innovate.

Its functionality is quite comparable to that of the vast majority of existing privacy-oriented protocols at the moment, but it distinguishes itself from other protocols by making use of side chains and developing a novel privacy-oriented ecosystem.

 

Pros And Cons Of Horizen (ZEN)

Pros:

• Private Transactions – The blockchain network focuses on giving users the ability to perform transactions privately. The zero-knowledge enabled network helps the Horizen network achieve fast and incredibly secure transactions.
• Largest Node Networks – The Horizen network is home to more than 40,000 nodes which makes it the protocol with the highest number of nodes out of any blockchain network. Essentially, this makes the project incredibly decentralized and secure in the eyes of the crypto community.
• Listed On Major Exchanges – ZEN can be traded by users on the majority of the main cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance, HTX, and KuCoin.
• Low Token Supply – ZEN has a relatively low token supply which is considered to be positive. A low token supply typically means that the tokens of a particular project are scarce and this is an additional value proponent of the project.

Cons:

• Suffered An Exploit – The protocol has already suffered a 51% attack where several thousand ZEN tokens were stolen. This severely damaged the project’s reputation, and many individuals believe that the project isn’t trustworthy and fear that there may be another exploit.