Zilliqa Monthly Newsletter - February 2025

As we move deeper into 2025, the momentum around Zilliqa 2.0 continues to build. The upcoming launch of our new staking portal will mark one of the final milestones on the road to mainnet.

The shift to Proof-of-Stake on Zilliqa 2.0 is a crucial evolution, and we’re committed to ensuring as smooth a transition as possible. I encourage all ZIL holders and stakers to stay informed on how to migrate their tokens and take full advantage of the new staking model.

One of the most exciting moments of February for me was the launch of Front Runner: Racehorse Manager, an impressive new mobile and browser game by The Winners Circle that promises a new type of Web3 gaming experience powered by Zilliqa. Whether you’re a racing enthusiast or a complete newcomer, I encourage you to try it out and compete for $HRSE.

Security remains a top priority, and our response to the X-Bridge exploit demonstrates our commitment to maintaining a durable and resilient network. We appreciate the community’s patience and support as we continuously work to strengthen our infrastructure and deliver more robust and accessible cross-chain infrastructure with Zilliqa 2.0.

Amidst a turbulent market, 2025 is shaping up to be a year of transformation and growth for Zilliqa as we maintain our course to deliver a new, flexible and easy-to-use network with Zilliqa 2.0. 

I’m grateful for the continued dedication of our team and community in making it happen.

• Matt Dyer
  Zilliqa CEO

Here are the highlights from the Zilliqa ecosystem for February 2025.

Prepare for Proof-of-Stake on Zilliqa 2.0

The Zilliqa team has been hard at work on a new staking portal, implementing delegation contracts for validators, as well as working on documentation to aid new validators with onboarding onto Zilliqa 2.0.

In the coming month, we expect to launch the Zilliqa 2.0 staking portal on proto-mainnet for users to try out. Most importantly, with the launch of Zilliqa 2.0, users will need to migrate their ZIL manually from their old staking nodes to be delegated to new validators’ staking contracts.

The development of the staking portal and staking-related contracts for Zilliqa 2.0 has been a core focus of the team this past month, and we aim to roll this out for public testing in the near future.

To learn more about how staking will change with Zilliqa 2.0, read our recent blog post.

The Winners Circle launches Front Runner: Racehorse Manager

The Winners Circle has officially launched the alpha version of Front Runner: Racehorse Manager, a strategy-based horse racing game available on mobile and browser.

This free-to-play game lets you build, breed, train, and trade racehorses to create a dominant racing empire. 

Compete against friends and other managers while earning real-world rewards. With an intuitive interface and seamless gameplay, Front Runner brings the thrill of horse racing to Web3.

Check out the trailer below:

This release is a teaser version of the game. It will be continuously updated with new features and functionality ahead of its full release, scheduled for Summer 2025.

Want to try it out? Play for free now at frontrunnergame.com.

X-Bridge exploit and mitigation

Implemented for compatibility with the legacy Zilliqa network as a result of ZilBridge being decommissioned, X-Bridge was recently extended to allow bridging of tokens formerly listed on ZilBridge to supported networks ahead of its migration to the robust cross-chain infrastructure introduced in Zilliqa 2.0.

On February 6, 2025, our security team identified an exploit in X-Bridge that stemmed from a vulnerability in newly introduced zETH and zBNB token manager contracts. This allowed an attacker to mint Zilliqa-bridged versions of ETH and BNB without locking the corresponding amount.

In response, we implemented several security measures, including upgrading X-Bridge contracts to enforce stricter balance checks before minting bridged assets.

X-Bridge has been brought back online in a limited capacity, and we want to share our appreciation for the community’s patience and support as we continue strengthening the network.

Read more in our blog post.

AMAs and ecosystem news

This past month, we fielded questions from the Zilliqa community about Zilliqa 2.0, answering all their questions about everything from privacy on x-shards to unstaking ZIL. Read through our answers in this X thread.

PlunderSwap also launched Plunder Points in February! If you've been trading or providing liquidity on PlunderSwap, or holding ZILnames, you’ve been accumulating Plunder Points, which will be redeemable for PlunderSwap’s upcoming $LOOT token.

We were also excited to see some good news for $ZIL on exchanges last month, with the $ZIL-USD pair going live on Binance US and $ZIL being part of MEXC’s 0 Fees event!

Stay up to date with the latest news by following us on X and subscribing to the Zilliqa blog.