After three years of public chain development, ZetaChain has ultimately decided to cease maintaining its own public chain.
On September 20, the ZetaChain community passed Proposal 68 with a 99.4% approval rate, approving the gradual end of the existing Layer 1 and the migration of ZETA to Solana.
The participation rate in this vote was approximately 58%, surpassing the required 40% threshold, with opposition and abstentions each around 0.3%. However, this vote does not mean that ZetaChain will stop block production on that day; specific shutdown height, asset migration timing, and operational methods still need to be determined in a subsequent second round of governance proposals.
What is truly worth noting is not the number 99.4%.
Instead, it is that a project which once focused on cross-chain infrastructure is proactively abandoning its own block space and shifting resources toward a privacy-focused AI application Anuma.
This might represent a rare change in the Crypto industry in recent times:
Projects are no longer trying to enlarge their L1 but are actively reducing infrastructure burdens.
First, let's look at the summary
- ZetaChain Proposal 68 passed with a 99.4% approval rate and a participation rate of 58%;
- ZetaChain L1 will enter a phase of gradual exit, but the specific shutdown time has not yet been determined;
- ZETA plans to convert to Solana's native SPL token at a 1:1 ratio, with total supply and token name remaining unchanged;
- ZetaChain is shifting resources toward the privacy AI application Anuma;
- Anuma has officially disclosed that it already has over 300,000 users and has established products around cryptographic memory, multi-model calls, and AI services;
- This is not a simple "chain swap," but a strategic shift from selling block space to developing applications.
Why would an L1 voluntarily exit?
ZetaChain's initial positioning was very clear:
To enable interoperability of assets and applications across different blockchains.
The project completed approximately $27 million in financing in 2023, subsequently establishing its own Cosmos SDK blockchain in hopes of serving as the infrastructure connecting networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
However, maintaining an independent L1 is, in itself, a continuous cost.
Validators need maintenance, clients need upgrades, security patches need coordination, and ecosystem developers also need to rebuild infrastructure around this chain.
One of the core reasons provided by ZetaChain in this proposal is that the costs and risks of continuing to maintain an independent Cosmos SDK chain do not align with the currently focused development of AI applications.
Thus, the project made a very radical choice:
No longer maintaining its own consensus layer and handing that infrastructure over to Solana.
ZETA is not just a simple “change of transaction location”
The design of this migration is also quite unique.
ZETA will not maintain a version of ZetaChain long-term through traditional means and connect to Solana via bridge but plans to directly become Solana's native SPL token.
The migration ratio is:
1 ZETA = 1 SPL ZETA
Total supply remains unchanged, existing lockup and vesting arrangements will continue to be executed as principle, and no additional tokens will be issued due to the migration.
However, there is an important detail:
The actual migration has not yet started.
Subsequent governance proposals still need to determine the balance snapshot height, final block stop for L1, asset withdrawal, and token claiming methods, and exchanges also need to confirm specific redemption arrangements.
Therefore, a more accurate statement currently would be:
ZetaChain has decided to "shut down its L1," but final shutdown has not yet been executed.
ZetaChain is really betting on Anuma
The other half of this adjustment is Anuma.
Anuma is a privacy AI application launched by ZetaChain this year, with the core concept not being just another ordinary chatbot, but to establish a user-owned cryptographic memory system.
Users' AI memories are encrypted and can be used across different models.
ZetaChain disclosed that Anuma currently has over 300,000 users and has processed more than one million requests, covering 35 AI models.
The role of ZETA within this system is also changing.
In the past:
ZETA → L1 Gas, network security, cross-chain infrastructure
In the future:
ZETA → Access to AI applications, Credits for AI services, and the application layer economic system on Solana
This is actually a very clear change in value capture methods.
Is there an emerging "anti-L1" trend in Crypto?
In the past few years, the typical path in the industry has been:
First issue Token → then build L1/L2 → attract developers → build ecosystem → increase TVL and trading volume.
However, ZetaChain is doing the opposite.
It has an operational L1 yet chooses to abandon that portion of infrastructure.
The reason is not that it cannot function technically but because the team believes:
Its core product no longer requires an independent public chain.
This point may be more worthy of observation than “ZETA migrating to Solana” itself.
As more and more applications can directly leverage the liquidity, wallets, development tools, and infrastructure of established networks like Solana and Ethereum, whether projects still need to bear the costs of maintaining an independent L1 is becoming a reality.
ZetaChain’s answer is:
If the application is more important than the chain itself, then the chain may be abandoned.
What should we really observe next?
Whether ZetaChain's adjustment can ultimately be implemented does not depend on the 99.4% voting result but on whether Anuma can truly generate sustained usage after the migration.
There are three metrics worth paying attention to next:
First, whether the holding and liquidity of ZETA post-migration are stable;
Second, whether the 300,000 users of Anuma can convert into actual AI usage;
Third, whether ZETA can transform from a “public chain Gas token” into a true asset for AI applications.
If Anuma can continue to grow, then ZetaChain might become a rare case:
The project did not continue to maintain its L1 but instead reduced infrastructure costs and focused resources on the application layer.
If application growth does not materialize, then the outcome of this migration might just be a story of transitioning from an independent public chain to a Solana SPL token.
Therefore, what is truly worth observing in this event is not:
“Why did ZetaChain shut its chain?”
But rather a larger question:
When mature public chains already provide sufficient infrastructure, do Crypto projects still need to own their own chain?
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