Zest

ZEST Protocol is a groundbreaking Bitcoin-native stablecoin ecosystem built on the Citrea network. By leveraging Bitcoin's unparalleled security and Citrea's EVM-compatible scalability, ZEST creates a robust financial layer that bridges traditional finance with decentralized innovation.

The protocol uses cBTC as its core collateral to mint ZEST, a USD-pegged stablecoin, ensuring enhanced financial stability and liquidity. Our ecosystem features overcollateralized debt positions (CDPs), a Stability Pool for liquidations, and a staking protocol that issues yield-bearing sZEST tokens.

ZEST Protocol is a Bitcoin-native stablecoin ecosystem built on the Citrea network, combining Bitcoin’s security with Citrea’s EVM-compatible scalability. At its core, ZEST uses cBTC (wrapped Bitcoin on Citrea) as collateral to mint a USD-pegged stablecoin called ZEST. The protocol is designed with a modular Solidity smart contract system deployed on Citrea L2. These contracts handle everything from overcollateralized debt positions (CDPs) and automated liquidations to staking and fixed-rate stablecoin swaps. We’ve built in support for partial liquidations and dynamic collateral ratios, and even added a Stability Pool that absorbs risk and redistributes rewards, ensuring robust peg stability.

The backend is written in TypeScript using Node.js and Express, with Prisma as the ORM connected to a PostgreSQL database. It abstracts away smart contract interactions through a REST API, enabling both our frontend and external developers to interact seamlessly with the protocol. On the frontend, we use Next.js and TailwindCSS to create a responsive, Web2-quality user experience. To further streamline integration for developers, we’ve created an SDK (@zest-protocol/sdk) that simplifies tasks like opening CDPs or fetching positions with just a few lines of code.

On the infrastructure side, we use Hardhat and Foundry for testing, with custom deployment scripts to push contracts to the Citrea testnet. Our CI/CD pipeline is powered by GitHub Actions for clean and automated development workflows. We’ve also integrated L2-compatible ENS contracts, allowing users to mint readable subdomains for CDPs or wallets—a small but impactful UX upgrade. One clever hack we implemented is the SwapModule’s fixed-rate USDT → ZEST exchange mechanism, which avoids relying on external oracles and ensures zero slippage, fast settlements, and maximum reliability.

Partnering with Citrea has been critical—it gives us the ability to scale without sacrificing decentralization, and enables a truly Bitcoin-backed DeFi primitive. Overall, ZEST was engineered with a focus on composability, developer accessibility, and performance. From the compound-yield logic in sZEST staking to gas-optimized liquidations and seamless API integration, everything was designed to feel like a Web2 product, but with all the advantages of trustless DeFi infrastructure.