ZetaChain Approves Retiring Its Blockchain, Moving ZETA to Solana

What happened in the vote

ZetaChain holders voted to retire the project's standalone blockchain and move its native token, ZETA, to Solana. The decision came through Proposal 68, which ended on Sept. 20 with about 99.44% of ballots in favor. Of the total votes cast, 263.65 million ZETA supported the plan, while 744,658 voted against it and 752,300 abstained. The vote gives core contributors the go-ahead to prepare for the migration, but it does not immediately move tokens or shut down the network.

Why the project is shifting to AI

ZetaChain was founded in 2021 to connect separate blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum. More recently, the project has focused on Anuma, a private AI application built around what it calls a Private Memory Layer. ZetaChain says maintaining its own blockchain no longer supports that effort, since running a Cosmos-based network requires coordinating security updates across dozens of independent validators. Moving to Solana would replace that validator system and let the team concentrate on Anuma and AI development.

Key numbers behind the shift

• Anuma has attracted more than 300,000 users since February.
• Anuma has processed over 1 million requests across 35 AI models.
• Each Anuma account includes a wallet, which could bring those users into the Solana ecosystem.
• ZetaChain cited Solana's roughly 400-millisecond transaction confirmations, more than $15 billion in stablecoins on the network, and approximately $70 billion in monthly decentralized exchange volume.

What the token migration would look like

Native ZETA balances on ZetaChain would convert one-to-one into a Solana-native SPL token under the same ticker. The total supply would stay the same, and no new tokens would be created. Once the migration is complete, the Solana version would become the canonical form of ZETA, and ZetaChain's own layer-1 would wind down. ZETA currently held on Ethereum and BNB Chain falls outside this proposal, and existing vesting schedules remain unchanged. Native balances moving from ZetaChain will shift from 18 decimal places to Solana's nine, with values rounded down. The first proposal does not specify how fractional remainders will be handled.

ZETA's changing role

ZETA would shift from being the asset that secures its own proof-of-stake network to serving as an access token for ZetaChain's AI products. Anuma already lets users lock ZETA in exchange for credits to spend on AI usage, which removes those tokens from circulating supply. ZetaChain hopes other AI applications and agents on Solana will adopt the same system. The success of this approach depends on whether Anuma can sustain its early user growth and whether outside developers adopt the project's memory layer.

What is still unclear

A second governance proposal must still be submitted, and that depends on centralized exchanges confirming how they plan to support the swap. Major exchanges require advance notice for token migrations, so the shutdown timetable rests on those negotiations rather than a set date. The follow-up proposal is expected to establish the withdrawal window for remaining ZetaChain assets, snapshot and halt heights, when Solana claims begin, how exchange-held balances convert, holder protections, and the validator wind-down process. The future of staking is also unresolved: rewards will continue until the layer-1 shuts down, but ZetaChain is still deciding what staking could look like on Solana.

Why this matters

The migration would give ZETA access to Solana's larger trading and payments ecosystem, which could matter for the token's utility in AI-related applications. But it also removes the independent blockchain that previously formed the center of ZETA's value and purpose. ZetaChain's strategy now hinges on Anuma's ability to convert early user growth into lasting demand and on whether developers adopt its AI infrastructure on Solana.

Sources

• CryptoSlate