ZetaChain is running an incentivized testnet to further develop its protocol on all fronts with its community, including: security, operations, performance, user experience, etc. This is all-in an effort to battle-test the network for mainnet launch. While the testnet is currently focused on onboarding experienced validators and developers, it will ultimately become an environment used for developing on/testing ZetaChain.

As an approved participant, you will be responsible for:

• Operating a validator;
• Processing transactions;
• Ensuring the security of the network and/or developers and completing specific tasks; and
• Completing specific bounties

Eligibility for the ZetaChain testnet is detailed in the “Eligibility for Testnet” section of the Terms and Conditions. Participation is only available where permitted by applicable law.

The selection committee will be prioritizing a diverse set of geographies and team-sizes. Following submission of the application, ZetaChain will reach out to selected participants and whitelist them for KYC/KYB/AML to be eligible for rewards. Applicants will be considered based on the following criteria:

• Experience operating a Cosmos SDK-based Validator;
• Experience developing with or testing the security of Cosmos SDK protocols and EVM-compatible smart contract layers;
• DevOps and other operational experience; and
• Ability to fulfill hardware requirements as well as access to required APIs;

All applicants must apply before April 30th, 2023. Participants may be selected on a rolling basis as the testnet progresses. All participation in the testnet is subject to ZetaChain's Terms and Conditions.

• Phase 1 (already initiated): Validator setup and network genesis. (up to 15 participants).
• Phase 2: Stress and scenario testing. (up to 75 participants).
• Phase 3: Security-focused battle-testing. (up to 75 participants).
• Phase 4: Maintenance mode and long-term testnet planning (up to 50 participants).

Phase 1 has commenced for the applicants in the initial ZetaChain announcement. The next phase is targeted to begin by May 1st, 2023 and each phase is estimated to take 1 - 3 weeks to complete. However, as the team and participants learn more and the testnet progresses, the schedule is subject to change.

ZetaChain has allocated 4,200,000 ZETA (0.2% of total token supply) to the incentivized testnet program. Eligible participants may receive a Testnet Validator role in the ZetaChain Discord, as well as the opportunity for other testnet-validator-operator incentives in the future.

Testnet participants will need to successfully pass KYC/KYB verification in order to receive rewards. The amount will be determined as follows:

Point-based system : Each phase will be updated with tasks that are assigned a point value. At the end of a phase, participants will provide evidence of the completion of various tasks. Participants who reach the eligibility threshold of points/participation on essential tasks will receive a distribution of ZETA for that phase.

Bonus rewards : The top 5 based on metrics such as uptime, participation in proposals, response time to emergencies and software upgrades, and other contributions for each phase will receive a bonus amount.

All rewards will be distributed to approved and eligible participants beginning after ZetaChain’s mainnet launch, locked for 1 year.

1. All approved participants will be contacted via the method selected in their application.
2. Participants will be whitelisted to complete KYC/KYB to be eligible for rewards.
3. Further updates will be communicated through the Discord testnet announcement channel. Participants are expected to monitor this channel, as well as the contact information they provided, to be notified of program updates.
4. Technical documentation can be found on ZetaChain’s official documentation site. Additional docs will be added throughout the testnet and beyond.

If you are interested in testing the protocol as a user, please check out ZetaLabs or join our social communities for other ways to contribute to ZetaChain!

An EVM-compatible L1 blockchain that connects everything: build interoperable dApps that span any chain, including Bitcoin; access all chains from one place.

• Chain-agnostic interoperability: ZetaChain is a Proof-of-Stake blockchain, where all transactions and activity on the platform - even cross-chain transactions - are fully transparent, verifiable, and function in a trust-minimized manner. ZetaChain’s validator network is able to read from and write to virtually any blockchain including non-smart contract chains like Bitcoin using its state-of-the-art TSS (Threshold Signature Scheme) architecture.

• The only protocol to support true omnichain smart contracts: Smart contracts can be deployed natively on ZetaChain’s EVM-compatible smart contracts layer that can read/write to connected chains leveraging ZetaChain’s TSS. This brings a new paradigm to developing dApps: a single smart contract deployment can access all chains, and users can interact with these apps from any chain.

• Eliminating barriers and risk involved with multichain crypto: On top of omnichain smart contracts, ZetaChain supports cross-chain messaging that enables wrapless value and data transfer; you can build value-transfer apps that aren’t susceptible to the bridge hacks that have lost billions in user-funds. Together this full suite of omnichain tooling lets developers build robust and seamless crypto applications that can take advantage of the opportunities on any chain, with lower risk, easier DevX/UX, and significantly lower costs than common cross-chain solutions.