ZetaChain’s decentralized governance has voted to decommission its standalone blockchain and migrate ZETA to Solana as the enterprise shifts its focus toward private artificial intelligence.
Following the conclusion of voting on Sept. 20, Proposal 68 passed with roughly 99.44% support. The final on-chain tally recorded 263.65 million ZETA in favor, 744,658 opposed, and 752,300 abstentions, granting core developers the authorization to proceed with the transition.
However, the vote does not trigger an immediate network shutdown or token transfer.
ZetaChain says its own L1 no longer fits
This planned termination marks a major strategic pivot for an initiative established in 2021 to bridge previously disconnected blockchains.
Over the years, ZetaChain developed a layer-1 network using the Cosmos SDK that enabled applications to interact with contracts and assets across multiple ecosystems, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. Earlier this year, however, the team redirected its resources toward Anuma, a private multi-model AI platform centered around what it terms a Private Memory Layer.
Management now concludes that maintaining an independent blockchain conflicts with that objective. In the text of Proposal 68, the team noted that running a Cosmos-based network demands ongoing coordination of upstream patches and security advisories among dozens of separate validatorsâan operational hurdle anticipated to grow as AI-driven tools simplify vulnerability discovery.
Relocating to Solana eliminates the need for that custom validator infrastructure, allowing contributors to concentrate on Anuma and the broader AI application stack. ZetaChain stated that “every contributor hour” will be redirected toward ZETA, Anuma, and Solana-based development.
According to the project, Anuma has drawn upwards of 300,000 users since February, processing more than 1 million requests across 35 distinct AI models. Because each Anuma account comes with an integrated wallet, the migration could seamlessly onboard those usersâalongside the token itselfâinto the Solana ecosystem.
ZetaChain contends that Solana supplies the necessary transaction speeds, low cost, liquidity, and developing agent-payment framework required for AI applications that execute frequent model queries or microtransactions. The project highlighted Solana’s roughly 400-millisecond confirmation times, more than $15 billion in stablecoin capitalization, and approximately $70 billion in monthly decentralized exchange volume.
ZETA shifts from securing a chain to accessing AI
This impending token transition will fundamentally alter ZETA’s economic function within the network’s ecosystem.
Native balances housed on ZetaChain will convert on a 1:1 basis into a Solana SPL token under the identical ticker symbol. The overall supply will remain fixed, with zero additional tokens minted. Upon completion of the migration, the Solana-based variant will become the canonical version of ZETA, and ZetaChain’s native layer-1 will cease operations.
The organization is repositioning ZETA primarily as an access key for its AI utilities, moving away from its original role as the foundational asset securing a proof-of-stake network.
Anuma already permits users to lock up ZETA in exchange for credits applied toward AI usage, effectively removing those tokens from the circulating supply. ZetaChain aims to integrate this exact model across other AI applications and autonomous agents operating on Solana.
Success for this strategy hinges on Anuma’s ability to turn early user adoption into persistent demand, as well as external developers embracing ZetaChain’s memory layer.
While the migration grants the asset entry into Solana’s broader trading and payment networks, it simultaneously discards the standalone blockchain that previously served as the core driver of ZETA’s utility.
Holdings of ZETA on BNB Chain and Ethereum remain untouched by Proposal 68, and pre-existing token vesting schedules are set to continue unaffected. Native balances migrating from ZetaChain will transition from 18 decimal places down to Solana’s nine and be rounded down, though initial proposals have yet to detail how any fractional remainders will be managed.
Exchanges now hold part of the timetable
The subsequent phase relies heavily on centralized exchanges that currently list ZETA.
Core developers indicated that a second governance proposal will only be introduced once these trading venues verify how they plan to accommodate the swap. Because major platforms demand extended lead times for token migrations, the final shutdown timeline is dictated by ongoing negotiations rather than a fixed calendar date.
This upcoming proposal is anticipated to outline the withdrawal window for assets tied to ZetaChain, the precise snapshot and halt block heights, the timeline for Solana claims, and the conversion mechanics for balances held on exchanges. It will also detail user safeguards and the step-by-step winding down of validators.
The long-term outlook for staking remains undetermined. Rewards will persist until the layer-1 network goes offline, while ZetaChain notes it is still investigating what staking mechanisms might look like post-migration.
Until exchanges reach a consensus on these operational details and token holders ratify them, ZetaChain will keep running the exact infrastructure it has chosen to retire.
