Start building with ZetaChain
At a high level, ZetaChain is a Proof of Stake (PoS) blockchain developed using the Cosmos SDK and Tendermint Core consensus engine. As a result, ZetaChain enjoys fast block time and instant finality.
ZetaChain hosts an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible execution layer called zEVM. In addition to supporting all EVM features and standard interactions (such as contract creation, contract interaction, and contract composition), zEVM's distinguishing characteristics include:
- The ability for contracts on zEVM to be called from external chains
- The capacity for contracts on zEVM to generate outbound transactions on external chains.
These two unique features enable zEVM to function as a general-purpose programmable platform, supporting cross-chain transactions that can atomically modify states across different chains in a single step.
When developing on ZetaChain, you create zEVM contracts. While zEVM contracts can be any standard Solidity contract, to fully utilize ZetaChain's capabilities, they should adhere to specific interfaces. These interfaces, unique to ZetaChain, enable interaction with externally connected blockchains.
Contracts that that run on ZetaChain and satisfy its interfaces are called omnichain smart contracts.