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ZetaChain’s mission is to serve as a platform for universal access, simplicity, and utility across any blockchain. We’re excited to announce the launch of a comprehensive ecosystem program to elevate and accelerate growth of impactful decentralized apps (dApps) and protocols built on ZetaChain blockchain.

5% of total ZETA supply committed

This new program allocates up to 5% of total ZETA supply to support the most promising and impactful projects building on ZetaChain blockchain, with a dedicated 1% (21 million ZETA) allocated for Bitcoin-focused projects. These programs are the first allocation of the 12% of total supply designated for the Ecosystem Growth Fund as outlined in the ZETA token distribution. The ZETA is planned to be distributed over the next 3–4 years.

The program will provide support through grants, incentives, and community campaigns for the development of cutting-edge products, services, and solutions that leverage the power of ZetaChain’s native Bitcoin integration.

Entering top 5 blockchains by active users

Since the ZetaChain Mainnet Beta launch on January 31, 2024, we’ve seen strong interest from developers who want to take advantage of Omnichain Smart Contracts, which enable dApps to access and integrate native digital assets from Ethereum, Binance, and non-smart contract chains such as Bitcoin.

The ZetaChain ecosystem already has over 250 developers and partners working across DeFi platforms, SocialFi, gaming, oracles, leading wallets, and more. The ZetaChain network has more than 2.6 million weekly active users, generating over 100 million EVM transactions and 690,000 cross-chain transactions on the blockchain to date. There are more than 5,200 dApp contracts deployed.

Source: DappRadar, Top Layer 1 Blockchains by Total UAW in the last 30 days, April 24th, 2024

Ecosystem growth program for Bitcoin projects

Bitcoin is the biggest story in Web3 over the last year, and the recent halving reduces mining rewards for Bitcoin blocks by 50%. Along with the developer community, we recognize immense potential for groundbreaking solutions and use cases that grow ownership, usage, and adoption of Bitcoin, further solidifying BTC as the preeminent digital asset.

ZetaChain blockchain enables access to native Bitcoin applications and integrations for all connected chains and any dApps built on the network. The Bitcoin-focused portion of the program focuses on developers working on three core pillars:

1.) BTC Infrastructure

Enhancing the underlying infrastructure for BTC-related applications through OP_RETURN supporting BTC wallets, infrastructure to enable BTC restaking, APIs, UIs, and cross-chain transaction indexers.

2.) BTC Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

Fostering a comprehensive suite of BTC-centric DeFi offerings, including lending/borrowing platforms, decentralized exchanges (DEXs), perpetual contract aggregators, money markets, and collateralized debt position (CDP) solutions.

3.) BTC Gaming and Social

Enabling the integration of BTC into gaming and social ecosystems, allowing players to earn native BTC as rewards for in-game activities or use native BTC for in-game purchases. Additionally, projects focused on building BTC-centric social graphs and networks will be supported through gas grants.

Kickstarting dApps on ZetaChain

The program focuses on DeFi protocols building on ZetaChain with support including liquidity and trading incentives that help drive more education, efficiency, and overall app usage. For Gaming and SocialFi projects, grants may help subsidize the costs of executing transactions for 1–6 months in order to reduce potential user barriers to entry posed by transaction fees.

Our aim is to enhance user experience for novel use cases and user experiences built on ZetaChain blockchain. The program will prioritize projects that leverage ZetaChain’s omnichain functionality.

Apply to the BTC Ecosystem Growth Program

The BTC Ecosystem Growth Program is now open for submissions. Projects can visit ZetaChain Developer Grants and complete the grant submission form. We look forward to supporting promising and impactful projects in Web3 with a particular focus on the Bitcoin developer community. We aim to grow usage and adoption of blockchain functionality and help the industry fulfill its potential for a new, decentralized internet.

About ZetaChain

ZetaChain is a simple, fast, and secure omnichain blockchain. A pioneer implementing the concept of chain abstraction, ZetaChain serves as the base-layer of the decentralized internet. With ZetaChain’s Omnichain Smart Contracts, developers can build truly interoperable dApps that span multiple chains across any existing blockchain from Ethereum to Bitcoin and beyond. Access all of crypto from any chain, including new blockchain innovations into the future. ZetaChain’s mission is to build a platform for global access, simplicity, and utility across any blockchain.

Follow ZetaChain on Twitter @zetablockchain and join the conversation on Discord and Telegram. Reach out to [email protected] if you’re building on top of ZetaChain.

Any projects mentioned are 3rd party, not ZetaChain.

Disclaimer: The above details are the current thinking and models with regard to ZetaChain and ZETA. They are subject to variations for the ZetaChain Mainnet Beta and further developments thereafter.