Layer-1 network ZetaChain has secured $27 million in funding for its chain-agnostic platform, as announced on August 16. The funding round involved various participants, including Blockchain.com, Human Capital, Vy Capital, Sky9 Capital, Jane Street Capi tal, and other investors.
Launched in 2021, ZetaChain's protocol focuses on enabling standardized interoperability across networks, allowing non-smart contract chains to seamlessly interact with the broader decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. This functionality empowers developers to deploy smart contracts on networks that do not inherently support the technology , such as Bitcoin and Dogecoin.
Smart contracts, digital agreements executed on the blockchain when predetermined conditions are met, face challenges in communicating across blockchains in the crypto ecosystem. ZetaChain aims to overcome this hurdle by facilitating the creation of decentralized applications (D Apps) that span entire chains. This allows access to assets and data from a unified platform, regardless of the blockchain's origin. This approach eliminates the need for token wrapping or bridging. ZetaChain reported that over 27,000 DApp contracts from various third-party applications have been launched on its platform, encompassing cross-chain DeFi, non-fungible tokens, Web3 identity, and gaming protocols. The protocol claims over 1.7 million users have executed more than 13 million transactions on its testnet.
Key contributors in the crypto space have joined ZetaChain since its inception, including Ankur Nandwani (formerly with Coinbase, Brave, and 0x), Panruo Wu (early contributor to THORchain), and Brandon Truong (formerly with BuzzFeed, Udacity, and Yada). The core team also includes former employees from blockchain projects like Cosmos, Ignite, and ConsenSys.
Ankur Nandwani highlighted the significance of the platform's Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible cross-chain smart contracts, which mitigate the aforementioned issues. These smart contracts enable developers to create faster, more secure, and user-friendly services, enhancing the overall blockchain experience.
