© 2022 Zone. All rights reserved.
Pioneering A New Era of Regulated Blockchains
We are pioneering a whole new paradigm that combines decentralization with regulation to unlock mainstream adoption of Blockchain. Zone leverages blockchain’s programmability, transparency, and immutability to ensure that digital assets and DeFi services are compliant and subject to regulatory oversight.
Regulated Blockchain Principles
A New Paradigm and Operating System for Financial Services
Digital money held through self-custody, managed by automated processes, and constrained by programmatic regulation all subject to regulatory oversight in real-time.
Decentralized Ledger
Copies of the distributed ledger are hosted by various regulators and regulated financial institutions serving as validators and archival nodes
Application Runtime
A decentralized application run-time environment allows developers build and run decentralized financial applications
Programmatic Regulation
Regulations are defined programmatically and incorporated into the logic that drives the behavior of tokens and applications
Permissioned Participation
All network participants i.e node providers, token issuers and dapp developers are licensed by the relevant regulator
CBDCs as Native Tokens
A native token is available for each supported country and pegged to the CBDC or physical fiat currency of that country
Regulator Governance
Changes to tokens, applications, and infrasructure are required to be approved by relevant regulators before they are deployed
"We are building a universal shared ledger for moving and managing the world's money in a regulated way"
Obi Emetarom
Co-Founder & CEO
HOW IT WORKS
Zone is a layer-1 blockchain protocol designed to hold digital assets, and run decentralized applications in a way that enforces compliance and enables oversight.
Zone combines the power of blockchain technology with the control, legitimacy, and trust associated with traditional finance.
FEATURES
Nodes
Nodes store copies of existing records and verify the correctness of new ones.
Connectivity
Connectivity is established via a virtual private network.
Consensus
The consensus mechanism Is based on proof of authority(PoA) protocol.
Runtime
The application runtime is EVM compatible natively supporting Solidity smart contracts.
KEY FUNCTIONALITIES
Participation
Zone implements proof-of-authority (PoA) consensus protocol and requires that entities hosting validator and archival nodes are licensed and permitted by the relevant regulator in any country. Token issuers and dApp developers are also expected to be licensed and approved to operate on the network.
Regulatory Oversight
Zone is licensed by the central Bank of Nigeria to process interbank payments on-behalf of Banks, Fintechs and other financial institutions. In addition, the Zone stack includes a regulatory enforcement layer that leverages smart contracts to screen transactions against rules and guidelines predefined by regulators. The regulatory enforcement layer addresses KYC, AML, and exchange control rules amongst others.
Real-Time Settlement and Reconcilliation
Zone enables participating financial institutions to maintain settlment accounts and settlement balances on-chain which allow settlement obligations to be fulfilled for successful transactions in real-time and allow beneficiaries to receive value immediately. Balances in settlement accounts are held in the native token instrument associated with the country where each participating institution is operating.
Native Settlement Tokens
Zone provides tokens for each country with values pegged to the value of the respective physical currency or CBDC. Local tokens are used for settling domestic interBank payments while a global settlement token pegged to the US dollar is used for settling cross-border payments. The deposits underpinning local tokens in each country are held by respective Central Banks while deposits for the global token are held by a regulated and globally reputable custodian.
Smart Contract Platform
Zone provides support for developer communities to build innovative decentralized applications that leverage the tokens, users, and capabilities within Zone as well as the regulatory authorization and integrations to legacy financial systems.
Third-Party Bridges
These components serve as interchanges between Zone and third-party systems like public chains, CBDC infrastructure, and other legacy financial systems, including payment networks, Banking Hosts, and messaging services. Through token wrapping, bridges enable the transfer of tokens/value between Zone and other chains hosting CBDCs and other tokens.
CONTROLS
Privacy
The network complies with the data privacy regulations in every operational jurisdiction.
Know Your Customer (KYC)
The network supports independent verification of end-user identities.
Anti-Money Laundering (AML)
The network performs AML screening via third party services.
Fraud
The network provides fraud detection functionality via third party services.
Controls
The network enforces exchange control rules in any jurisdiction.
Reporting
The network provides regulatory reports in required formats.
USE CASES
A Decentralized Payment Network Supporting the Full Spectrum of Payment Use Cases.
Physical & Virtual Channels
Enables seamless transactions initiated at physical points of sale and via online platforms.
Domestic & Cross Border Payements
Facilitate efficient payments within and across national borders.
Physical & Digital Currencies
Supports and transacts with both physical fiat currencies and regulated digital currencies.
Bank Account & Wallet Balance
Integrates with various account hosts to enable flow of funds to and from all types of deposit accounts.
Card & Cardless Transactions
Conducts secure transactions using both card-based and cardless methods.
LICENCES
Enterprise-grade security
We adhere to the best-in-class recommendations.
Frequently Asked
Questions
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Market insights, trends, and reports to keep you on the cutting edge of financial technology.
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Zone regulated by the Central bank of Nigeria and authorized to offer payment processing services.
Copyright © 2025, Zone.
12B Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos State, Nigeria.
© 2025. Zone is a payment infrastructure company enabling payments and acceptance of regulated digital currencies through its regulated blockchain network; it is duly licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Unauthorised reproduction or redistribution of copyrighted materials on this website and Zone's digital media pages is strictly prohibited. By clicking on some of the links above, you will leave Zone's website and be directed to a third-party website. The privacy practices of those third parties may differ from those of Zone. We recommend you review the privacy statements of those third-party websites, as Zone is not responsible for those third parties' privacy or security practices. Additional disclosures can be found in the resources section of our website.