Zero Chain

The core node implementation for the Zero Network — a permissionless stablecoin microtransaction network.

1 Z = $0.01 USD | 136-byte transactions | <500ms finality | 0.01 Z flat fee

Architecture

zero-chain/
├── zero-types       Core types: accounts, blocks, transfers, parameters
├── zero-crypto      Ed25519 signing + BLAKE3 hashing
├── zero-storage     Account state, staking, rate limiting, snapshots
├── zero-consensus   DAG-based aBFT consensus, trust scoring, finalization
├── zero-network     gRPC gossip layer + JSON-RPC API
├── zero-bridge      EVM bridge guardian (Base USDC, Arbitrum USDT)
└── zero-node        Binary entry point, config loading, faucet

Design Choices

• Block-lattice account model — each account has its own chain of blocks, no global block ordering bottleneck
• Leaderless DAG aBFT consensus — events reference parents from other validators, finalized when 2/3+ weight achieved
• Ed25519 + BLAKE3 — fast, small signatures (64 bytes) and hashes (32 bytes)
• 136-byte wire format — from (32) + to (32) + amount (4 u32) + nonce (4 u32) + signature (64 Ed25519) = 136 bytes
• Trinity Validators — 3 trusted parties with 2-of-3 multisig for bridge operations

Consensus

The consensus engine uses a DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph) where each validator produces events that reference the latest events from other validators. Finalization occurs when an event is seen by 2/3+ of committee stake weight.

• Trust scoring: validators earn/lose reputation (500 initial, 1000 max, ejected below 100)
• Slashing: equivocation = 100% stake, downtime = 10%, invalid attestation = 100%
• Committee rotation at epoch boundaries (every 10,000 finalized events)
• Late event detection (>5s threshold)

Bridge

Two-chain bridge with ECDSA guardian attestation:

Chain	Asset	Confirmations
Base	USDC	20
Arbitrum	USDT	20

Circuit breaker: max 20% of reserves releasable per 24h with 2-of-3 sigs, up to 50% with 3-of-3.

Bridge-in is free (user pays L1/L2 gas only). Bridge-out costs 0.50 Z flat fee.

Quick Start

Install

curl -sSf https://install.zzero.net/install.sh | sh

Or build from source:

git clone https://github.com/Zzero-net/zero-chain.git
cd zero-chain
cargo build --release

The binary is at target/release/zero-node.

Run a Local Testnet

cd devnet
./launch.sh

This starts 3 validator nodes locally on ports 50051-50053 with a JSON-RPC API on port 9070.

Configuration

validator_index = 0
key_file = "validator.key"
listen = "0.0.0.0:50051"
peers = ["http://peer1:50051", "http://peer2:50051"]
data_dir = "/opt/zero/data"
event_interval_ms = 200
log_capacity = 100000
max_batch_size = 500

Run Tests

cargo test

202 tests covering crypto, storage, consensus, and bridge logic.

Network Parameters

Parameter	Value
Units per Z	100
Transfer fee	1 unit (0.01 Z)
Max transfer amount	2,500 units (25 Z)
Account creation fee	500 units (5 Z)
Bridge-out fee	50 units (0.50 Z)
Rate limit	100 tx/s per account
Dust pruning	<10 units (<0.10 Z) inactive 30 days
Max validators	1,024
Min validator stake	10,000 Z
Unbonding period	7 days
Epoch length	10,000 events

Fee Distribution

Recipient	Share
Validators	70%
Bridge reserve	15%
Protocol reserve	15%

SDKs & Tools

Resource	Link
Python SDK	zero-sdk-python
JavaScript SDK	zero-sdk-js
MCP Server	mcp-server
Bridge Contracts	zero-contracts
Payment Widget	pay.zzero.net
Documentation	docs.zzero.net
Explorer	explorer.zzero.net

License

Apache-2.0