Real Value is in Infrastructure, says Zilliqa’s CEO on Refocusing to Build the Base Layer and Empower Innovation

Some names never go out of fashion, and in the world of blockchain, Zilliqa remains one of ￰0￱ as the first public blockchain to implement sharding, Zilliqa has long been a pioneer in scalable Layer 1 ￰1￱ the rollout of Zilliqa 2.0 and an upgraded mainnet, the platform is on its mission to bridge institutional finance and ￰2￱ over $50 million in digital assets under treasury management and a focus on developer accessibility, regulatory compliance, and enterprise-grade performance, Zilliqa is evolving into a blockchain built for speed and real-world adoption. Today, we sat down with Alexander Zahnd, Interim CEO and CFO of Zilliqa, to discuss the platform’s transformation and vision and what’s next in the race for scalable, interoperable blockchain ￰3￱ the Ethereum Ecosystem The story of Zilliqa in 2025 is one of ￰4￱ June, the network launched a new mainnet featuring full Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility and a decentralized Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, shifting from its original ￰5￱ upgrade was more than a technical ￰6￱ embracing EVM, Zilliqa opened the doors to Ethereum’s developer community and ecosystem tools, eliminating previous entry barriers linked to its native smart contract language, ￰7￱ consensus replaced the more resource-intensive Proof of Work, increasing the network decentralization and offering better incentives for ￰8￱ noticeably, Zilliqa cut block times to roughly one second, making it one of the fastest chains in the market ￰9￱ now focuses on building ecosystem maturity by rolling out key decentralized finance infrastructure like bridges, decentralized exchanges, NFT marketplaces, and money market ￰10￱ tools will enrich the user experience and solidify Zilliqa’s position as a platform for both developers and ￰11￱ Institutional Trust to Web3 Zilliqa’s enterprise vision spotlights its partnership with the Liechtenstein Legal Entity Identifier Network (LTIN).

This partnership aims to address the gap between legacy financial systems and Web3 by bringing a strong compliance standard on-chain. Zilliqa’s history includes forays into gaming, creator economies, and the ￰12￱ experiments showcased the ecosystem’s adaptability and addressed the challenges of allocating resources across different verticals. Currently, Zilliqa has recalibrated its focus back to its core competency: providing robust, scalable blockchain infrastructure and enabling developers and enterprises to build on top of ￰13￱ meant shifting focus from consumer-facing products, to streamlining efforts to create a sustainable ￰14￱ focus aligns with Zilliqa’s goal of competing with larger ecosystems through performance and enterprise-grade tools that meet the demanding requirements of regulated ￰15￱ new mainnet and institutional initiatives like LTIN underscore this commitment to infrastructure excellence and ecosystem ￰16￱ Competitive in a Multi-Chain World Zilliqa gained early traction as one of the first blockchains to implement sharding, a solution designed to increase scalability by dividing the network into parallel shards that process transactions ￰17￱ sharding still remains a technical advantage, its early adoption lagged due to ecosystem barriers, including the complexity of Zilliqa’s original smart contract language, Scilla.

Meanwhile, Layer 2 solutions on Ethereum and Ethereum’s scaling upgrades have narrowed the ￰18￱ 2.0 marks a strategic ￰19￱ scalability remains essential, the focus is now on accessibility and ￰20￱ EVM compatibility opens the network to the largest developer community in crypto, eliminating the isolation that Scilla ￰21￱ block times and PoS consensus further strengthen its ￰22￱ combination of speed, ease of integration, and decentralization is Zilliqa’s current edge in a multi-chain ￰23￱ & Asia remain a focus for Global Growth. Zilliqa’s strongest user base remains in Southeast Asia. However, the company views the UK as a key strategic market, particularly given the region’s evolving regulatory framework and appetite for blockchain ￰24￱ like The Winners Circle, which connects traditional fan engagement with Web3 experiences, reiterating Zilliqa’s approach in the UK, which involves verifiably and transparently bridging physical loyalty programs with digital ￰25￱ maintaining a strong network in Asia while cultivating strategic partnerships and projects in markets like the UK, Zilliqa is positioning itself as a truly global player, able to navigate regulatory requirements and deliver compliant, scalable blockchain solutions ￰26￱ digital assets and decentralized applications grow in complexity and regulatory scrutiny, Zilliqa’s approach of combining fast, scalable infrastructure with real-world compliance and enterprise partnerships positions it to remain competitive.

Zilliqa’s current progress shows how blockchain can bridge traditional finance and Web3, unlocking new possibilities for institutions and developers alike in an industry often criticized for hype and fragmentation. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes ￰27￱ is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.