In our previous announcement, we shared how Horizen was preparing to bring privacy-preserving infrastructure to Caldera through a dedicated appchain built with the Rollup Engine. Today, that moment has arrived: Horizen’s mainnet is officially live. This launch isn’t just another chain going live. It’s the introduction of privacy as a first-class primitive into the Caldera ecosystem — a capability that unlocks entirely new categories of onchain applications, use cases, and cross-chain interactions. Horizen is now the privacy backbone of the Internet of Chains.
Why Privacy Matters for the Next Phase of Web3
Public blockchains have made data verifiable, but not private. Everything — user behavior, business logic, transaction intent — is exposed. For consumer applications, enterprise adoption, and AI-driven systems, this is a structural barrier. Horizen solves this by providing configurable, end-to-end privacy infrastructure. Its mainnet combines:
Zero-knowledge capabilities for proving facts without revealing sensitive information
Selective disclosure so users and enterprises choose what to reveal
Compliance-aware architecture that preserves auditability while keeping data confidentialFull EVM compatibility, meaning builders can use standard tooling while gaining advanced privacy protections
This transforms privacy from an afterthought into a programmable feature of the chain itself. And now, thanks to Caldera, that privacy becomes interoperable.
A Privacy Chain Inside the Internet of Chains
Horizen’s mainnet joins a growing network of specialized rollups built on the Caldera Metalayer. But Horizen contributes something unique: privacy as a shared capability across the entire ecosystem. This unlocks a host of cross-chain possibilities:
Confidential DeFi Across Chains
Other Metalayer-connected L2s can route sensitive transactions through Horizen for private order flow, compliance checks, or selective verification.
Private Identity & Reputation for Every Appchain
Gaming rollups can use Horizen to hold private player profiles. Social rollups can keep user graphs confidential but provable. Enterprise chains can integrate KYB/KYC without leaking user data.
Privacy for AI-Enabled Applications
AI systems require verifiable yet private datasets. Horizen provides the confidentiality layer while Caldera provides the interoperability, allowing AI agents to operate across chains without compromising sensitive information.
How the Metalayer Multiplies Horizen’s Impact
Horizen chose Caldera partly to ensure its privacy stack wasn’t isolated. With mainnet live:
ZEN becomes universally accessible through Metatoken and the Metalayer
Attestations, proofs, and confidential data flows can move across chains
Developers building on any Caldera chain can instantly deploy private components by calling into Horizen
This accelerates the ecosystem flywheel:
New chains launch →
They integrate Horizen’s privacy features →
Users and liquidity flow across the network →
More developers build →
More chains join →
Horizen grows as the privacy hub
Horizen Mainnet Is Now Open
With mainnet live, developers can begin deploying privacy-preserving applications that simply aren’t possible on transparent chains. Users can access these applications using standard Ethereum wallets, such as Metamask.
Developers and users alike can get started by visiting https://horizen.hub.caldera.xyz.
The Privacy Era of the Internet of Chains Begins
This launch marks a pivotal expansion of Caldera’s vision: a world where specialized chains form a unified, interoperable network — and where privacy is a core building block, not an optional add-on. Horizen’s mainnet is now live. Its privacy infrastructure is now interoperable. And the Caldera ecosystem is stronger, more capable, and more composable than ever. Congratulations to the Horizen team on reaching this milestone. We’re proud to partner with them in building the next generation of confidential, interconnected blockchain systems.
