ZetaChain announces $27M raise in latest funding round

The funding will be put towards developing a layer-1 blockchain to connect “all chains”

article-image

AndriiKoval/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

ZetaChain announced Wednesday that it had raised $27 million as part of a recent funding round. 

According to a blog post, Blockchain.com, Jane Street Capital, Human Capital, Vy Capital, GSR, amongst others participated in the round. 

With the funding, ZetaChain will continue to build an Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible layer-1 blockchain. 

To put it simply, EVM is the runtime environment for executing smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain.

“Since the beginning, along with our 150 contributors from all over the world, we have focused on providing the best possible experience for developers to build genre-defining services that go beyond Web3 and we will continue doing so,” a ZetaChain contributor told Blockworks.

It allows users to access assets and data from a wallet on one platform regardless of the blockchain, expanding this to even include chains such as the Bitcoin network and Dogecoin, despite the fact that both are non-smart contract chains.

“ZetaChain’s Ethereum Virtual Machine compatible omnichain smart contract layer empowers developers to seamlessly implement Bitcoin smart contracts. This unlocks a whole world of users who were previously solely in Bitcoin, enabling them to utilize their Bitcoin within the broader DeFi ecosystem,” ZetaChain said in a blog post announcing the raise.

According to the post, 1.7 million users have used the testnet, totaling over 13 million transactions.

“Our ecosystem counts more than 47,000 dapp contracts, with a diverse range of dapps including cross-chain DeFi, NFTs, universal Web3 social, identity and gaming protocols,” ZetaChain said.

Essentially, the blockchain allows end users to create apps and services “with reduced steps, slippage, fees, susceptibility to race conditions, and overall faster, more accessible and better user experience.”


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 24 - 26, 2026

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

allora-image.png

Research

Decentralized AI coordination networks solve crypto's growing architectural mismatch: applications built on trustless infrastructure shouldn't depend on centralized intelligence providers. By turning model outputs into competitive marketplaces, protocols like Allora are building the permissionless intelligence layer that AI-powered DeFi and autonomous agents require.

article-image

Ethereum rolls out Fusaka, setting the stage for a stronger blob fee market and renewed deflationary potential

article-image

Futuristic DeFi is stuck inside the computer. An old idea might be its escape hatch

article-image

Money market indicators are flashing liquidity stress again as crypto underperforms equities

article-image

From passageways to penumbras: a history of private life

article-image

BTC’s Asia-session move and Ethena’s weaker yields reflect a market adjusting to tighter yen funding and softer derivatives carry

article-image

What Monad’s launch, MegaETH pre-market pricing, and the Berachain refund story say about today’s infra market