Is Horizen (ZEN) Halal or Haram?
SUMMARY
Horizen provides a neutral, privacy-preserving Layer 3 infrastructure on Base. While its core business and token utility are permissible, the token's revenue-sharing mechanism includes fees from ecosystem apps like prediction markets, and the exact non-compliant share is unknown, resulting in a Doubtful verdict.
Holder risks
What anyone other than you can do to this coin. The screening found nothing.
No one can freeze your coins
New coins follow a fixed rule or cap
Why this one is not a clear yes or no
Doubtful means the evidence did not settle it, not that nobody looked. The methodology sets out what every asset is checked against, where the line sits, and why we stop short of calling something permissible when the answer is not there.
Read the methodology Or learn halal investing with our free lessons. No card needed.Verdict by Activity
How you can hold and use ZEN
Buy & Hold
While the core infrastructure and utility are permissible, the exact share of non-compliant revenue reaching holders from ecosystem apps (like prediction markets) is unknown.
Native Staking
OptionalNative staking for network security and governance is a permissible validation service.
Liquidity Provision
OptionalYield sourced from DAO LP earnings involves liquidity provision, which is scholar-debated.
Ecosystem Fee Sharing
OptionalEcosystem fee sharing includes revenue from a prediction market (Layrs), the exact proportion of which is unknown.
What the screen checked
Shariah Analysis
Infrastructure — where it runs
PassedThe asset operates on Base (Ethereum L2) and Horizen L3, which are neutral general-purpose networks.
Application — what it does
PassedThe protocol provides privacy-preserving L3 infrastructure and does not operate lending or gambling itself; hosting third-party apps like the Layrs prediction market is general-purpose input.
Asset — what you own
PassedZEN is used for governance, value-routing, and staking, with opt-in yield mechanisms.
Property Status (Māl)
PassedZEN is a native protocol position with established adoption, ascertainable supply, immutable contracts, and no discretionary freeze or mint authorities.
Revenue Purity
CautionRevenue reaches holders through a rewards pool, but the exact share of non-compliant revenue from ecosystem apps like the Layrs prediction market is unknown.
Legitimacy & Security
whitepaper
PassedOfficial documentation and tokenomics are available and verified.
project audits
PassedThe research indicates the project has audited smart contracts.
social presence
PassedThe project has active DAO governance and a publicly documented roadmap.
Team & Ecosystem
team background
CautionNot covered by research.
Detailed Shariah Report
Horizen is a privacy-preserving Layer 3 blockchain infrastructure built on the Base network. Its native token, ZEN, is used for governance, value-routing, and staking within the ecosystem. The protocol provides a neutral foundation for decentralized applications to operate with enhanced privacy.
The Shariah evaluation of Horizen follows a three-layer screen: the underlying infrastructure, the business activity, and the asset itself. The infrastructure (Base and Horizen L3) is a neutral, general-purpose network. The core business activity of providing privacy-preserving infrastructure is permissible; hosting third-party applications is considered a general-purpose input rather than direct involvement in prohibited activities. At the asset layer, ZEN qualifies as recognized digital property (Mal). It is a native protocol position with an ascertainable supply, immutable smart contracts, and established adoption, granting the holder exclusive control without relying on a redemption claim against an issuer. A failure at any of these layers would fail the whole asset, but Horizen passes all three. However, the verdict on buying and holding the token is Doubtful. While the core utility is permissible, the protocol's economic design routes ecosystem fees to a rewards pool that benefits holders. These ecosystem applications include Layrs, a privacy-first prediction market involving maisir (gambling). Because the exact share of this non-compliant revenue is unpublished, the holding status remains Doubtful. Regarding optional mechanisms: native staking for network security and governance is Halal, as it represents a permissible validation service. Conversely, opt-in liquidity provision is Doubtful due to scholar-debated DAO LP earnings. Finally, participating in the broader ecosystem fee sharing is Doubtful because it directly exposes the participant to the unquantifiable prediction market revenues.
- The underlying infrastructure on Base and Horizen L3 is a neutral, general-purpose network.
- ZEN qualifies as recognized digital property (Mal) with self-custody, immutable contracts, and no arbitrary freeze or mint authorities.
- Native staking for network security and governance is a permissible validation service.
- The core protocol does not directly operate interest-bearing lending (riba) or gambling (maisir) mechanisms.
- !The protocol shares fees with ecosystem applications, including a prediction market (Layrs) which constitutes gambling (maisir).
- !The exact percentage of revenue derived from non-compliant ecosystem apps is unpublished, making it impossible to accurately quantify the impure portion.
- !Yield sourced from DAO liquidity pool (LP) earnings involves liquidity provision, a mechanism that remains debated among Shariah scholars.
- !The composition of the project's treasury is not fully detailed regarding potential exposure to interest-bearing fiat or DeFi lending.
Because the exact proportion of non-compliant revenue from ecosystem apps (like the Layrs prediction market) flowing into the rewards pool is unknown, a precise purification percentage cannot be calculated. Investors who opt into ecosystem fee sharing receive mixed income and should consult a qualified scholar for guidance on estimating purification for unquantifiable maisir exposure.
Horizen provides a legitimate, privacy-focused Layer 3 infrastructure, and its native token ZEN functions as recognized digital property. However, because the protocol distributes ecosystem fees to holders, including unquantifiable revenue from a prediction market, the asset is classified as Doubtful. While native staking for network security is permissible, the mixed nature of the shared rewards complicates overall Shariah compliance, and final religious authority rests with a qualified scholar.
How this verdict was reached
This is not an opinion issued by ShariaQuant. It is the output of a documented screening methodology applied to researched facts about Horizen (ZEN), and every row above states the specific evidence that drove it — so the reasoning can be examined rather than taken on trust.
The framework screens three layers — the infrastructure an asset runs on, the application it serves, and the asset itself — and separately tests whether the token qualifies as recognised property (māl): that it presently exists, has an ascertainable supply, can be held and transferred, and carries a genuine lawful use. A failure at any single layer fails the asset.
Revenue-purity thresholds follow the AAOIFI screening standard: non-compliant income below 5% of revenue is tolerated and purified, while 5% or above fails the screen.
The framework follows published scholarship rather than in-house opinion. Treating a digital asset as a right (ḥaqq) that becomes recognised property (māl) only on stated conditions follows “Is Crypto Halal? The Definitive Shariah Guide to Crypto and Digital Assets” by Mufti Faraz Adam (Amanah Advisors, 2026), which reproduces the conditions identified by Mufti Taqi Usmani. Financial thresholds follow the AAOIFI screening standard. The rulings we track are collected in the fatwa library.
AAOIFI has not reviewed, approved or endorsed this report or ShariaQuant, and no scholar named in our methodology has reviewed this individual verdict. This is analysis, not a fatwa — final religious authority rests with a qualified scholar.
This is an AI research platform and the screening engine is under active development. We keep improving how facts are gathered and checked, and a report is re-issued in full when an asset is screened again rather than amended in place.
Check this yourself
Each finding below is quoted word for word from the document it came from, and every quote was checked against that document before this verdict was issued. Open the link and read the sentence in place — you do not have to take ours for it.
5 of 5 decisive claims verified against their source.
- What the holder legally ownsQuote verified
“Official ERC-20 contract representing ZEN.”
docs.horizen.io - Who can freeze a holder's balanceQuote verified
“An admin address set in the constructor has the rights to modify the beneficiary or the vesting parameters (will be subject to offchain DAO voting).”
docs.horizen.io - Who can create new supplyQuote verified
“Minting authority is granted only to the vault smart contracts”
docs.horizen.io - Genuine lawful useQuote verified
“ZEN is the coordination, value-routing, and governance token of the Horizen ecosystem.”
docs.horizen.io - Share of non-compliant revenueQuote verified
“The Rewards Pool will be funded by a variety of sources, which may include, without limitation, Horizen DAO ("DAO") grants, DAO LP earnings, zkVerify node emissions, ecosystem protocol fees, sequencer economics, and partner contributions.”
horizen.io
Is Horizen a serious project?
Permissible is not the same as good. This is the research behind that second question — what Horizen is actually for, who is paying for it, what is already built, and what would have to go wrong.
Research on the project, not advice on the trade. A high fundamental score is not a recommendation to buy, and it says nothing about whether the asset is permissible — that is the Shariah verdict, and it is free.
How Horizen ranks against its peers
The Shariah verdict tells you whether you may own Horizen. This tells you what you would be holding — worked out by a fixed formula from public market data, and compared only against assets of the same kind.
A ranking of how solid an asset is against its peers, not a forecast of what it will do next and not investment advice. A permissible asset can rank badly, and a badly ranked asset can still rise.
Asked alongside this
Short answers from the ShariaQuant team.
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