ZetaChain Community Approves Shutting Down Its Original L1

ZetaChain Community Greenlights L1 Shutdown and ZETA Migration to Solana ?

Contrary to the assumption that this exit is pushed unilaterally by the ZetaChain team, this move is an autonomous community decision approved by more than 90% of token holders. ZetaChain originally entered the market as a native cross-chain Layer1 public chain, but after years of development, it still failed to break through bottlenecks in ecosystem growth and network performance. After months of discussions between the team and the community, a proposal to end operations of the original L1 public chain and migrate the native ZETA token to Solana was put forward. The vote exceeded the required quorum, with over 90% support, reflecting strong community endorsement of the adjustment, and setting a new precedent for community-led transformation of public chain projects.

Why Abandon L1 and Move to Solana ⚡️: A Rational Choice, Not a Forced Exit ?

This is not a forced exit due to an unsustainable project, but an optimal strategic choice made after long-term research by the team and community. The current Layer1 public chain track is extremely competitive. Although ZetaChain positions itself as a cross-chain project, its ecosystem has grown slowly for a long time, with daily active users and on-chain transaction volume falling far below expectations. Continuing to operate the original public chain would consume massive team and capital resources. Solana boasts an industry-leading high-performance underlying network, a mature ecosystem covering DeFi, NFT and the emerging RWA sector, as well as a large user base and deep liquidity. After migration, ZetaChain can continue to develop its core cross-chain business based on Solana's ecosystem, freeing up resources previously spent on maintaining the underlying public chain to focus on product iteration and ecosystem expansion.

What Core Advantages Does the Migration Bring to ZETA ?

This migration is far more than just moving tokens to a new chain; it will unlock greater growth potential for ZetaChain's core cross-chain business ?. Solana's high performance can support smoother cross-chain transfers and interactions for ZetaChain, while its extremely low on-chain fees will attract more retail users to participate in cross-chain services. Existing ZETA holders can swap their original tokens for new ZETA on Solana at a 1:1 ratio, with no changes to their holding rights. After migration, ZETA can directly integrate with various applications in the Solana ecosystem, and benefit from Solana's deep liquidity, which also helps support token price stability. For the project, eliminating fixed costs of block production and node maintenance frees up more capital to invest in cross-chain technology R&D and ecosystem support, creating clear long-term development advantages.

What Industry Insights Does This Transformation Offer ?

This is far more than just a strategic adjustment for a single project; it is a wake-up call and points a new way forward for the entire small and mid-sized public chain sector ⚡️. In recent years, new public chain projects have emerged one after another, but the vast majority have run into development bottlenecks, either lacking user traffic or failing to build out a functional ecosystem. Most projects continue to drain their reserves and team energy propping up little-used underlying public chains. ZetaChain's case of proactively shutting down its original L1 and migrating to a mature ecosystem to focus on its core business offers a new path for many similarly positioned small and mid-sized public chains: instead of clinging to the empty title of "my own public chain", projects can embrace mature ecosystems, focus on their core differentiated business, and leave underlying infrastructure development to established professional public chains.

While many expect ZetaChain to take off immediately after the migration, the success of this transformation ultimately depends on the execution ability of the project team ?. Technical issues related to cross-chain asset mapping may arise during migration, requiring prompt responses from the project team, and holders need to follow official guidelines to protect asset security and avoid phishing risks. In addition, entering the Solana ecosystem means ZetaChain will compete with more established projects for user traffic. It will take time to tell whether ZetaChain can leverage its core cross-chain advantage and win widespread user recognition for its product. Existing holders should also approach this transformation rationally and avoid making blind moves driven by short-term price volatility.

Overall, ZetaChain's move to proactively terminate its original L1 and migrate ZETA to Solana is a rare fully community-led strategic adjustment in the public chain track ?. It breaks the industry's inherent belief that "public chain projects must cling to their own underlying network", and proves that projects can adjust their strategic direction flexibly based on their development stage and market conditions. Any adjustment that aligns with the core interests of most community members is a viable option. This transformation also brings new thinking to the entire industry, and in the future we may see more small and mid-sized public chains choose this similar lightweight path, focusing on core business and achieving better growth by leveraging mature ecosystems. We will continue to follow ZetaChain's progress after migration to see whether this bold attempt can bring new changes to the industry.