TL;DR The ZetaChain Lightning upgrade kicks off our long-term roadmap to power real-time Universal Apps with the fastest cross-chain transactions (CCTXs) in the industry without compromising decentralization.

At ZetaChain, our mission is to build a Universal Blockchain with native access to any blockchain, making crypto as accessible, diverse, and connected as the internet. With the Lightning upgrade, we’re reducing block times, expanding chain support, and laying the foundation for the fastest decentralized cross-chain transactions (CCTXs) available. Lightning lets you build real-time, composable Universal Apps once, and launch to people everywhere — native Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Sui, TON, and beyond.

Key Highlights

• Targeting 70% faster block times: ZetaChain Lightning (V31) reduces block finality from 6 seconds to 4 seconds. Our goal is to eventually reach ~2 seconds.
• Broader chain support for Universal Apps: New support for Solana smart contract triggering (mainnet) and TON chain support (testnet) expands what Universal Apps can do across chains.
• Faster, more expressive CCTXs (like native BTC → purchase Solana NFT): Upgrades like signature caching, gas bumping, and instruction parsing improve speed and reliability of CCTXs.
• No compromise on decentralization: ZetaChain maintains a fully decentralized validator set with no centralized sequencers or custodial bridges. Our ecosystem is developing fast intent-based systems like Speedrun and other off-chain UX layers to meet developer trust preferences.
• Pioneering Threshold BLS in cross-chain: ZetaChain is the first cross-chain L1 exploring Threshold BLS to dramatically improve CCTX throughput without compromising validator decentralization. Read more in ZIP-9.

What’s New in ZetaChain Lightning

70% Faster Block Times (6s → 2s) without compromising decentralization

Thanks to an upgrade to CometBFT consensus parameters, ZetaChain now finalizes blocks in 4 seconds (down from 6), with a target of ~2 seconds through future consensus optimizations. These improvements push ZetaChain’s Universal Blocklchain experience closer to a web-like UX, without trading off decentralization like many L2s and sidechains do.

Table: Block Times of ZetaChain and Supported Chains

Block Times of ZetaChain and Supported Chains

Unlike many fast chains that trade off security or use centralized actors, ZetaChain is committed to delivering true cross-chain performance backed by decentralized trust. That’s why we’re exploring upgrades like Threshold BLS Signatures (see ZIP-9) to accelerate signing without compromising ZetaChain’s core components and decentralization.

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Why block time matters: ZetaChain directly connects external chains like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, each with their own finality speeds. By speeding up consensus on its own Universal EVM, ZetaChain ensures faster Universal App execution on ZetaChain, regardless of where a user starts their transaction.

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Compose Universal Apps with Solana smart contracts: Buy Solana Memecoins from EVM Wallets

ZetaChain now supports withdrawAndCall for Solana, allowing Universal Apps to call native Solana programs from any connected chain. You can now buy Solana tokens directly using ETH, USDC, or other EVM tokens without bridging or switching chains.

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Example Universal App: Random.meme is developing the ability to buy a diversified portfolio of coins (memes, RWA, DePin, Etc.) across chains including Solana with one click. Start from Base, Ethereum, Arbitrum, Avalanche, ZetaChain, Etc. and interact without switching networks.

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