ZKC is the native token of Boundless — a protocol built to provide universal zero-knowledge (ZK) proof infrastructure to blockchains.

Instead of every node re-executing transactions (as is common in blockchains), Boundless lets independent prover nodes generate ZK-proofs. Other chains or applications can use these proofs to verify computations — improving scalability, efficiency, and interoperability.

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🔧 What ZKC is Used For

ZKC serves multiple roles in the Boundless ecosystem:

Prover collateral & staking: Provers must stake ZKC as collateral before accepting proof-generation tasks.

Rewards for work: When provers successfully generate valid proofs (called ZKPs — zero-knowledge proofs), they are rewarded with ZKC. This is done under a system called Proof of Verifiable Work (PoVW).

Governance: ZKC holders can participate in governance — i.e. vote on upgrades, marketplace rules, protocol parameters, etc.

Network security & economic incentive: By staking, locking as collateral, and rewarding verifiable work, ZKC helps secure the network and align incentives for participants.

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📊 Tokenomics & Supply Structure

At launch, the “genesis” supply of ZKC was 1 billion tokens.

However, the supply is inflation-based, not fixed forever: roughly 7% inflation in Year 1, gradually tapering to ~3% per year from Year 8 onward.

On initial listing (September 2025), around 200.9 million ZKC (~20% of total supply) were in circulation.

Allocation among stakeholders (ecosystem fund, team, investors etc.) follows this rough breakdown: ~31% ecosystem fund, ~23.5% core-team & early contributors, ~21.5% investors, ~18% strategic growth fund, with a small portion for public sale / airdro #zkc