Financial discipline vs bold innovation—you need both. Alexander Zahnd on finding the balance that drives real, sustainable progress.

Full interview with Brave New coin: https://bravenewcoin.com/insights/zilliqa-unlocking-web3-for-all

Alex doesn’t sugarcoat it. In this GM Podcast episode, he talks about building Zilliqa, the pressure of leading, and what it really takes to push Web3 forward.

If you’re into substance over hype, this one’s worth your time 🎧

Zilliqa 0.19.0 Mainnet Upgrade Incoming.

This hardfork introduces key improvements:

✅ 7-day stake unbonding period. More flexibility for all stakers.
✅ Jailing of faulty proposers. Improved network liveness.

ATTENTION VALIDATORS 🚨
This is a mandatory update.

🔗 Block: 13514400
🗓️ Est: Nov 17, 2025
⏰ Est: ~07:18 UTC

Please update your nodes before the hardfork.

Digital identity today is fragmented and siloed. The vLEI is fixing it.

We’re backing GLEIF’s vLEI Hackathon, pushing what’s possible in verified org identity and digital trust.

https://www.gleif.org/en/newsroom/events/gleif-vlei-hackathon-2025

Want to see Zilliqa's network performance in real-time?

Now you can: https://insights.zilliqa.com/

The new Zilliqa Community Dashboards are live, offering transparent access to on-chain metrics, RPC response times, and validator reward analytics.

AI agents can now see and understand what’s happening on the Zilliqa network. 👀

Say hello to the Zilliqa Insights MCP Server - a simple, direct way for LLMs to tap into real-time on-chain data.

With it, agents can:
- Keep an eye on validator performance
- Follow earnings and stake weight
- Review network reliability
- Ask natural-language questions without wrestling with complex queries

No extra tooling, no awkward workarounds - just straightforward access to the data that matters. We’re building infrastructure meant for agents as much as people.

More details here: https://github.com/Zilliqa/insights-mcp-server

The Rarible × Zilliqa launch trading campaign has officially ended as of 17 December 2025 at 16:00 GMT.

- A snapshot of addresses participating in this campaign has been taken.
- Next, all entries will be reviewed.
- Addresses identified for Wash trading will be disqualified.
- The list of disqualified addresses will be published here on 21st December or earlier : https://zilliqa.github.io/rarible-launch-trading-campaign/.
- Rewards will be distributed on 22 December 2025.

We thank everyone for participating in this trading campaign.

Stay tuned.

🎉 That’s a wrap!

The Rarible × Zilliqa launch trading campaign is officially complete, and rewards have been sent out to all eligible addresses.

Thanks to everyone who joined in and supported the launch - we appreciate it.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Zilliqa 🎄

Best wishes to you and your loved ones.

2025 wasn’t just about an upgrade. It was a rebirth.

We completely re-architected the Zilliqa network and launched Zilliqa 2.0. We built the foundation for real capital and real performance.

If you weren’t following every step, here’s the recap of the year that changed everything 👇

Zilliqa 2.0 is LIVE

The biggest milestone of the year.

We moved to a faster, regulatory-ready infrastructure built to scale.

- Devs got new APIs, explorers, and cleaner docs
- Users migrated with zero friction - same addresses, faster execution
- Validators got clearer workflows and stronger security

This wasn’t a patch job. We built something new.

🔒 A New Staking Era

- No more 14-day unbonding period but 7 days only
- A new staking portal with all staking pools in one place stake.zilliqa.com
- Zillion officially retired after a smooth transition

More flexibility. Same rewards. Less waiting.

🌉 Ecosystem Expansion

We focused on making building and moving assets easier.

- Graph Protocol for fast, reliable on-chain data
- Houdini Swap for private and cross-chain swaps
- X-Bridge completed the move away from ZilBridge, Seamless transfers between networks

Privacy matters. Interoperability matters even more.

🎨 Culture & Creators

Rarible went live on Zilliqa, opening the door for creators and collectors to transact on-chain.

To celebrate, we dropped a $10,000 reward pool for active wallets.

More activity = better chances. Simple.

📊 Transparency First

We don’t believe in “trust us”.

That’s why we launched the Network Performance Dashboard:
🔍 https://insights.zilliqa.com/

Track things like:

- RPC response times
- Validator rewards
- On-chain performance

See the network as it really is.

🤖 AI Infrastructure

2025 was also about laying the rails for autonomous agents.

- MCPs let LLMs query Zilliqa data directly
- ElizaOS & GOAT enable agents to transact and manage wallets

No hype. Just infrastructure that actually works.

⏳ 2026 loading…

2025 was about building the engine.
2026 is about pushing it.

Thanks for building with us 💙

gZIL Collective - Season 1 grantee (Progress update)

What happens when a community gets real power over ecosystem funding?

You get the GZILCollective. A community-led initiative where gZIL holders decide which projects get funded to grow the Zilliqa ecosystem.

It exists to:
- Fund builders
- Support real products
- Strengthen Zilliqa infrastructure
- Put governance into the hands of the community

No backroom decisions. Just proposals, voting, and execution.

In Season 1, Community voting led to 5 projects receiving grants - spanning developer tooling, analytics, NFTs, and community growth.

Here’s the progress so far 👇

1. Plunder Academy by Plunderswap - AI-powered developer education hub

Why it matters:
- Faster onboarding for new builders
- Clearer learning paths
- Stronger post-EVM developer momentum

Status: Live on mainnet https://plunderacademy.com

2. ZilStream 2.0 by Zilstream - An upgraded analytics and data platform for the ecosystem

Why it matters:
- Better transparency
- Deeper on-chain insights
- Stronger tooling for teams & users

Status: Live on mainnet https://zilstream.com/

3. Forge by Torch wallet - A permissionless token creation & deployment platform

Why it matters:
- No-code token launches
- Empowered founders & communities
- Accelerated experimentation on Zilliqa

Status: Work in progress

4. RexPumpFun by Avely and Zilpay - A meme-token launchpad built for community-driven launches

Why it matters:
- Lowered barriers to token creation
- Boosted social engagement
- Strengthened Zilliqa’s culture layer

Status: Work in progress

5. The Tavern by Shibui Labs - A community-focused NFT marketplace

Why it matters:
- Supported creators
- Expanded NFT infrastructure
- Reinforced Zilliqa’s creative economy

Status: Work in progress

Stay tuned as these projects continue to take shape and move toward launch.

Huge appreciation to every builder building on Zilliqa - we’re rooting for your success.

Follow the gZIL Collective as Season 2 opens the door for more builders to pitch bold ideas and secure funding.

The last 6 months at Zilliqa weren’t quiet by accident.

After launching Zilliqa 2.0, we deliberately paused to gain clarity - on focus, on strategy, and on where we create real value in a more regulated, institutional world.

Today, we’re sharing what we learned, what we’re building, and how our alignment with LTIN fits into the next phase.

Read the full update: https://blog.zilliqa.com/zilliqa-a-strategic-update-where-weve-been-and-where-were-going/

gZIL Grantee Highlight

Plunder Academy - a free, hands-on learning platform helping builders go from Solidity fundamentals to mainnet deployment on Zilliqa EVM, with AI-powered tooling and security-first learning.

Built with grant and support from the GZIL Collective.

Read the full highlight https://blog.zilliqa.com/plunder-academy-lowering-the-barrier-to-building-on-zilliqa/

As promised, our first Zilliqa Community Update + Business Insights report is live.

This new format is designed to provide consistent, transparent progress reporting across infrastructure, partnerships, and regulatory-ready initiatives. It will evolve over time with community feedback.

We’re building long-term foundations - not short-term noise.

Read the full update here: https://blog.zilliqa.com/community-updates-and-business-insights/

Liechtenstein just went on-chain 🇱🇮

The first government-backed institutional validator is now LIVE on Zilliqa.

Operated by LTIN (backed by Telecom Liechtenstein) - this isn’t just another node. It’s a bridge between sovereign infrastructure and public blockchain.

A regulatory strategy turning into real infrastructure.

LTIN validator node can be found here 👉https://stake.zilliqa.com/?poolId=MHg5MTgw

ZIL Perp is live on Variational - a next-gen perp DEX. Instead of a traditional order book, Variational uses an RFQ (request-for-quote) model to fill trades.

Trade $ZIL with:
• Up to 50× leverage
• Zero trading fees
• Loss refunds
• Hundreds of markets

Variational is still in Private-beta stage. So, use code OMNIZILLIQA to sign-up.

⚠️Perpetual trading carries high risk and isn’t suitable for all users. Understand leverage mechanics and trade responsibly.

ZIL market https://omni.variational.io/perpetual/ZIL

Zilliqa is strengthening its stablecoin infrastructure.

We are introducing zUSDC via XBridge, bringing USDC liquidity onto network-operated infrastructure designed to improve reliability and long-term ecosystem sustainability.

This transition ensures stablecoin liquidity continues to operate smoothly while aligning with Zilliqa’s broader goal of building institutionally compatible blockchain infrastructure.

The blog explains the migration process, timeline, and what USDC users need to do.

More here: https://blog.zilliqa.com/strengthening-stablecoin-infrastructure-on-zilliqa-introducing-zusdc-via-xbridge/

Community Update #2

Over the past few weeks, focus has been on strengthening core infrastructure -

• X-Bridge enhancement
• On-chain identity (vLEI)
• Stablecoin flow infrastructure
• Regulatory-ready environments

These are foundational to long-term ecosystem growth and institutional adoption.

Find more here: https://blog.zilliqa.com/community-updates-strengthening-the-foundations/