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ZetaChain is building a public L1 blockchain with built-in omnichain interoperability. Since the Sparta (devnet) release in April, the team made significant advancements to the protocol, which will underpin a number of new interactive test apps coming out in the near term (ranging from DEX to multichain NFT transfers and much more). Currently, major players in the crypto space are building on ZetaChain, and we’re continuing to look for new partners with whom we can provide white glove services for all steps of the development process and launch. The purpose of this post is to examine a few key protocol and product updates in the repo. These include a behind the scenes look at the ZetaChain blockchain, live transaction monitoring with ZetaScan, and new cross-chain DEX code. We conclude by sharing a couple of omnichain dApp examples from the live documentation.

Blockchain Code Improvements

We’ve made some improvements to the ZetaChain blockchain code, most notably the release of an upgraded testnet that is now explorative. Other behind the scenes enhancements include the consolidation of remote procedure call (RPC) services and additional chain support for Ropsten Ethereum Network. If you’re a developer, note the Message Passing Interface (MPI) was renamed to Connector and is now compatible with updated contracts and interfaces.

Closer look at the inner workings of ZetaChain

ZetaChain blockchain’s architecture contains a number of special components that together enable omnichain interoperability of value and data. The following is a cursory overview of a few essential elements.Contained within each validator is the ZetaClient and ZetaCore, both of which are bundled together and run by node operators. ZetaClient is responsible for observing events on external chains and signing outbound transactions. ZetaCore is responsible for producing the blockchain and maintaining the Zeta Virtual Machine (ZVM). Currently, ZetaCore is observable via running a node or the HTTP-JSON APIs of a node, or an enriched indexer/explorer (AKA ZetaScan described in a subsequent section).The ZVM is akin to any other layer 1 blockchain’s runtime or virtual machine (VM) layer (e.g. Ethereum VM), through which general smart contracts can be deployed. The key difference of course with ZetaChain blockchain is that it has built-in omnichain interoperability and therefore supports generic cross-blockchain dApps. One of the many facets that make this possible is ZetaChain’s use of a novel hybrid blockchain “bookkeeping” model, which we’ve described in previous articles.

DevX and User Enhancements

State transitions of a ZetaChain cross-chain transaction (CCTX)

One important feature of ZetaChain CCTXs is that it has reverts built-in so you can deploy robust cross-chain apps without dealing with the poor UX and DevX of stuck transactions. This also enables criteria setting of the output (deadline, min received) towards “atomicity” of a “transaction”. Developers now have a whole new class of cross-chain dApps within reach of creation, and the experience is similar to developing on a single chain.

The diagram below illustrates state transitions of a CCTX. Note, in a message-passing paradigm, ZetaCore is best viewed as replicated state machine for CCTXs.

Diagram of state transitions of a CCTX

Specifically, the circles represent states of a CCTX, the arrows show a state transition triggered by labeled events such as an external transaction, and the double circles (green rings) indicate a terminal state, namely that the CCTX is completed. Imagine for a moment how developers can apply this novel design to create expressive omnichain dApps while preserving accountability, simplicity, and scalability.

Explorer (AKA ZetaScan)

Today marks the release of the ZetaChain blockchain Explorer app (AKA ZetaScan), making the network fully transparent and explorable. ZetaScan functions similarly to that of other explorers such as Etherscan for Ethereum, SnowTrace for Avalanche, and so on. This means that you can now monitor omnichain dApp transactions live on ZetaChain. Check out the Explorer here: https://explorer.zetachain.com

Figure 1: Explorer, Transaction Ledger

In its first iteration, ZetaScan supports transaction indexing and details. For example, in Figure 2 below, one sees an event record where 1,004 ZETA was transferred from Ethereum to Optimism. Future versions will include enhanced features such as ZetaChain network-wide analytics, richer search and filtering features, additional explorable entities (blocks, connected networks, nodes, etc.), and much more.

Figure 2: Explorer, Transaction Details

A functional minimal cross-chain swap dApp

One new addition to the developer documentation code examples is a cross-chain swap smart contract. This is a fully-fledged example swap/DEX that you can use to kickstart your own development of a cross-chain DEX on ZetaChain. Check out the full swap contract documentation here. We’ll have some exciting tools for our community to play with and build on top of along with other example dApp contracts soon!With this contract specifically, swapping cross-chain is as simple as sending a single swap transaction from your source wallet. The contract and its integration with ZetaChain’s Connector handles all of the fees, gas, and cross-chain transaction for you. Swapping functions look like:

function swapTokensForTokensCrossChain(
address originInputToken,
uint256 inputTokenAmount,
bytes calldata receiverAddress,
address destinationOutToken,
bool isDestinationOutETH,
/**
* @dev The minimum amount of tokens that receiverAddress should get,
* if it's not reached, the transaction will revert on the destination chain
*/
uint256 outTokenMinAmount,
uint256 destinationChainId,
uint256 crossChainGasLimit
)function swapETHForTokensCrossChain(
bytes calldata receiverAddress,
address destinationOutToken,
bool isDestinationOutETH,
/**
* @dev The minimum amount of tokens that receiverAddress should get,
* if it's not reached, the transaction will revert on the destination chain
*/
uint256 outTokenMinAmount,
uint256 destinationChainId,
uint256 crossChainGasLimit
)

Start building omnichain dApps

ZetaChain is focused on open sourcing resources for developers and the broader ecosystem. To that extent, we provide smart contract code examples in our documentation for a variety of omnichain dApp use cases. Let’s examine some examples:

Your First Cross-Chain Message

This example is the most rudimentary, showing how you would emit a Hello World event from chain-to-chain. Simple, but a great start!

Docs

Sending Value Across Chains

With this example, you see how you’d send any value between any connected chain by using the ZETA token.

Docs

Cross-Chain Counter

In this example, you can see how one would build a counter based on passing messages between two contracts on different chains.

Docs

Code

Cross-Chain NFT

With this example, you can build an NFT that can be sent across all chains natively with ZetaChain.

Docs

Code

Join our community of builders

We’re looking to expand our community of builders and partners including one of the biggest crypto exchanges. Leverage our technical resources to guide your development and launch of the world’s first truly omnichain dApps.

What’s next?

The ZetaChain team is actively developing the protocol to prepare for the big mainnet launch later this year (our fully public network that transacts real data and assets). Expect to see and touch the first UIs that showcase omnichain functionality in the near term. Follow ZetaChain on Twitter @zetablockchain and join the conversation on Discord and Telegram.

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