ZetaChain EVM

ZetaChain is a Proof of Stake Layer 1 blockchain that runs a complete Ethereum Virtual Machine. Smart contracts compile and deploy with Solidity and the standard EVM toolchain — Hardhat, Foundry, Remix, ethers, viem, MetaMask — with no modifications. The chain is built on the Cosmos SDK (opens in a new tab), the CometBFT (opens in a new tab) consensus engine, and the Cosmos EVM (opens in a new tab) module.

Architecture

The Cosmos SDK provides the modular blockchain framework, including staking, banking, governance, and other core modules. CometBFT handles consensus, producing blocks with deterministic finality. The EVM is integrated as a Cosmos SDK module that exposes the Ethereum execution environment natively. The result is a sovereign Layer 1 with its own validator set, fee market, and governance, running Ethereum-compatible smart contract execution.

EVM compatibility

ZetaChain implements the full Ethereum bytecode and the complete JSON-RPC API. Standard transaction formats are supported: EIP-155 for chain ID replay protection, EIP-1559 for the dynamic base fee market, EIP-2930 for access lists, and EIP-7702 for code delegation on externally owned accounts. Layer 2 features like blob transactions (EIP-4844) are not supported, as ZetaChain operates as an independent Layer 1 rather than a rollup.

Finality

Ethereum finalizes blocks probabilistically across many confirmations. ZetaChain finalizes deterministically through CometBFT in a single block, typically under five seconds. There are no chain reorganizations: once a block is committed, it is final, so contracts and integrations do not need to account for reorg risk.

Accounts and addresses

ZetaChain supports both bech32 Cosmos addresses (prefix zeta) and hex EVM addresses. The two formats are derived from the same public key and represent the same account. See Account Addresses for details and conversion utilities.

Fees

ZetaChain uses the EIP-1559 fee model with a dynamic base fee. From an application developer's perspective, fees behave identically to Ethereum. The native gas token is ZETA; the on-chain denom is azeta (1 ZETA = 10¹⁸ azeta).

Tooling

Existing Ethereum tooling works without modification — MetaMask and other EVM wallets, Hardhat, Foundry, Remix, ethers.js, viem, web3.js, and the standard ERC-20, ERC-721, and ERC-1155 contracts. Point any EVM client at a ZetaChain RPC endpoint to read state, send transactions, and interact with deployed contracts. Chain IDs, public RPCs, and block explorers are documented in Network Details.

Cosmos features through precompiles

Cosmos SDK functionality such as staking and governance is exposed to the EVM through precompiled contracts at fixed addresses, so Solidity code can call into these features directly. EVM wallets can also sign Cosmos SDK transactions using eth_signTypedData (EIP-712), which lets users delegate stake or vote on proposals without a separate Cosmos wallet.