Tokenomics

The flywheel

Zero is the token behind zkUSD, and the two feed each other. Fees from trading Zero flow into the reserve that backs zkUSD, and fees from zkUSD flow back to buy and burn Zero.

1. 01
   Trading fees in ZEC

   Zero trades against ZEC on pump.fun, so every trade pays its fees in ZEC.

2. 02
   Swapped to USDC

   The ZEC is converted to USDC and deposited into the zkUSD reserve.

3. 03
   Backed 1:1, earns swap fees

   Every zkUSD is backed one for one by USDC, and zkUSD swaps generate fees.

4. 04
   Buy back and burn

   Those fees buy Zero on pump.fun and burn it, taking it out of supply for good.

2% to the reserve

The 2% creator fee on every Zero trade goes to the zkUSD reserve. It arrives in ZEC, is converted to USDC, and lands in the vault that backs zkUSD, so every trade adds to the backing.

The reserve is public. Watch it grow on the reserves page, read live from Solana.

Why ZEC

• Zcash started it. Zcash launched in 2016 as the first money secured by zero-knowledge proofs. Zero brings the same idea to a dollar on Solana.
• The same kind of proof. Zcash’s Sapling upgrade adopted Groth16, the proof system Zero’s shielded pool uses to verify every private payment on-chain.
• Fees that feed the reserve. Every trade on the ZEC pair pays its fee in ZEC, which becomes USDC in the zkUSD reserve. The pair is the start of the flywheel.
• A community that gets it. ZEC holders already value financial privacy. The pair puts Zero one trade away from them.

Team supply

10% of the supply is set aside for growth: partnerships, exchange listings and incentives for people using Zero. It vests over one year. Nothing unlocks in the first two months; from month 3, 1% of the supply unlocks each month, until all 10% is out at month 12.