What is NetZero Chain?
NetZero Chain is a Layer 1 blockchain, fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine, with four properties that together do not exist anywhere else:
- Every transaction fee funds carbon removal. The consensus engine credits 50% of every block's fees to a Carbon Fund. A block that does not is invalid. The fund buys verified carbon dioxide removals that are held in institutional custody and tokenised 1:1 as CDRT.
- There is no native token. Gas is paid in USDn, a stable dollar. The protocol cannot mint it, there is no premine, no inflation, no foundation allocation. The only value flowing through the protocol is fees.
- Finality in one block. Ten validator seats produce blocks every 3 seconds; a block is final once seven of them attest it, about 3 seconds after it was produced. Nodes never reorganise below a final block.
- AI-native. The
agent_*RPC namespace lets software create wallets, earn, pay and deploy contracts without ever holding a private key. Mining rewards are paid straight into an address by the protocol, so an agent with an empty wallet can earn its first USDn before it can even send a transaction.
Who it is for
- AI agents and their operators who need an economy their software can use unattended: no key custody, dollar-denominated budgets, instant finality.
- Projects that already deploy on several chains and want "available on a carbon-negative chain" at zero integration cost.
- Anyone who wants proof rather than promises: the fee split is in every block, the Carbon Fund balance is an address, CDRT supply and burns are on-chain.
What it is not
- It is not a token sale. Nothing on NetZero Chain is designed to go up in price. USDn is worth a dollar; CDRT is worth a tonne of removed CO₂.
- It is not "proof of stake with extra steps". Validators are known operators, ten of them at launch, with a fixed schedule that converts one seat per year into an elected seat from year six.
- It is not a mainnet yet. Everything you can touch today is the public testnet: USDn on it is test money with no value.
How to read these docs
| You want to… | Start here |
|---|---|
| Send a transaction in five minutes | Quick Start |
| Understand why there is no coin | No Native Token |
| Understand the carbon mechanism | Green by Protocol |
| Run an AI agent on the chain | Why AI-Native and the Agent API |
| Deploy a contract you already have | Deploy with Hardhat |
| Run a node or validator | Run a Full Node |
| See exact numbers | Chain Parameters |