UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): ~~July~~August 184, 2025

Grayscale Horizen Trust (ZEN)

(Exact name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)


Delaware	000-56435	83-6217411
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation)	(Commission File Number)	(IRS Employer Identification No.)

c/o Grayscale Investments Sponsors, LLC 290 Harbor Drive, 4th Floor
Stamford, Connecticut		06902
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)		(Zip Code)

     Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code: 212 668-1427

    

N/A

(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:


☐	Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

☐	Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

☐	Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

☐	Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:


Title of each class	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
Grayscale Horizen Trust (ZEN) Shares	HZEN	N/A

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§ 230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§ 240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company ☒

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Item 75.0102. Departure ~~Regulation~~of FDDirectors ~~Disclosure~~or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

~~Migration~~On August 4, 2025, Grayscale Investments Sponsors, LLC (together with its affiliates as the context may require, “Grayscale”), the sponsor of the registrant, announced that GSO Intermediate Holdings Corporation, the sole managing member of Grayscale Operating, LLC, the sole member of Grayscale Investments Sponsors, LLC, has approved the appointment of Barry Silbert as a Director and Chairman of the Board of Directors (the “Board”). Mark Shifke will step down from his position as Chairman of the Board, but remain on the Board as a Director. Grayscale is also considering expanding the Board further to ~~Base~~include ~~blockchain~~independent directors.

OnBarry ~~July~~Silbert ~~18,~~is ~~2025 (~~the ~~“Announcement~~Founder ~~Date”),~~and asCEO ~~a result~~ of ~~the~~DCG, ~~announced~~a ~~migration~~global ofinvestor ~~all~~and ~~Horizen~~incubator ~~(“ZEN”)~~building ina ~~the~~decentralized ~~main~~future ~~Horizen blockchain~~ to ~~the~~unlock ~~Base~~economic ~~blockchain (the “Migration”)~~ and ~~the~~societal ~~planned~~opportunity. ~~discontinuation~~A ofpioneer ~~all ZEN~~ in ~~the Horizen~~ blockchain ~~by July 23~~investing, ~~2025~~Barry ~~(the~~established ~~“Migration~~himself ~~Date”),~~in ~~Grayscale~~2012 ~~Investments~~as ~~Sponsors,~~one ~~LLC, the sponsor (the “Sponsor”)~~ of ~~Grayscale Horizen Trust (ZEN) (~~the ~~“Trust”),~~earliest ~~announced that, from~~ and ~~after~~most ~~the~~active ~~Migration~~investors ~~Date,~~in ~~it will consider~~ the ~~ERC-20~~space. ~~ZEN~~In ~~tokens~~2015, onhe ~~the~~founded ~~Base~~DCG ~~blockchain (the “ZEN Base Tokens”) to be generally accepted ZEN~~ and, ~~therefore~~today, ~~such~~it ~~ZEN~~is ~~Base~~one ~~Tokens~~of ~~should be thereafter considered “ZEN” for~~ the ~~Trust~~world’s ~~purposes.~~most ~~The~~prolific ~~Migration~~investors ~~follows~~in adecentralized ~~favorable vote by the Horizen DAO~~technologies, abacking ~~distributed~~over ~~autonomous~~250 ~~organization~~early-stage ~~which~~companies ~~helps~~in ~~govern~~over ~~the~~40 ~~development~~countries ofaround the ~~Horizen Network, which was announced in February 2025~~globe. AsIn ~~part~~2024 ofBarry ~~the~~founded ~~transition to the Base blockchain~~Yuma, ~~there will be~~ a ~~change~~decentralized inAI-focused ~~the~~DCG ~~emissions~~subsidiary ~~schedule~~where ~~underlying~~he ~~the~~serves ~~Horizen~~as ~~protocol, with an increase in circulating supply from approximately 16~~CEO.0 ~~million~~Yuma ~~ZEN~~invests ~~to a projected 17.25 million ZEN Base Tokens and the transfer of 0.75 million and 0.50 million ZEN Base Tokens to the Horizen DAO and the Horizen Foundation~~in, ~~respectively. On or about the Migration Date~~builds, ~~each ZEN token currently owned by the Trust is expected to be replaced by a ZEN Base Token,~~ and ~~thereafter~~scales the ~~Trust’s~~Bittensor ~~assets will comprise solely of ZEN Base Tokens~~network.

~~Coinbase~~In ~~Custody~~addition ~~Trust~~to ~~Company~~its investment portfolio, ~~LLC~~DCG isowns ~~expected~~Grayscale Investments, Foundry, Fortitude, Luno, and Yuma. DCG also invests directly in digital currencies and other digital assets. Prior to ~~act~~DCG, asBarry ~~custodian~~was onthe ~~behalf~~founder and CEO of ~~the~~SecondMarket, ~~Trust~~a ~~with~~venture-backed ~~respect~~technology tocompany that was acquired by Nasdaq. Barry has received numerous awards and accolades including being named Entrepreneur of the ~~Trust~~Year by both Ernst & Young and Crain’s, ~~ZEN~~and ~~Base~~being ~~Tokens~~selected ~~following~~to ~~the~~Fortune’s ~~Migration~~prestigious “40 under 40” list. NoBefore ~~action~~becoming isan orentrepreneur, ~~will~~Barry beworked ~~required~~as ~~from~~an ~~the~~investment ~~shareholders~~banker ofin ~~the~~New ~~Trust~~York. ~~for~~He graduated with honors from the ~~Migration~~Goizueta ~~described~~Business ~~above~~School toof beEmory ~~completed~~University.

~~The~~A ~~Sponsor~~copy ~~intends to evaluate the adoption and usage~~ of ~~ZEN~~Grayscale’s ~~Base~~press ~~Tokens~~release ~~following~~is ~~the~~attached ~~Migration, among other factors, including the ongoing viability of the Trust, and currently expects to make a determination~~ as toExhibit ~~the foregoing by December 2025~~99.1 ~~Based on such evaluation, the Sponsor may discontinue the affairs of the Trust pursuant~~ to ~~the~~this ~~terms~~Current ofReport ~~the~~on ~~Trust~~Form ~~Agreement~~8-K and asis ~~described~~incorporated inby ~~the~~reference ~~reports and documents of the Trust filed with or furnished to the SEC~~herein.

~~Description~~Investments ofin ~~the~~Grayscale ~~Base blockchain and ZEN Base Tokens~~Products

~~ZEN~~Our ~~Base~~directors ~~Tokens~~and executive officers are ~~ERC-20~~generally ~~tokens~~permitted ~~that~~to ~~serve~~invest astheir ~~the~~own ~~digital~~capital ~~currency~~(or ~~underlying~~capital ~~the~~of ~~Horizen~~estate ~~Network~~planning ~~following~~vehicles ~~the~~controlled ~~Migration~~by ~~Date,~~them ~~which~~or istheir ~~built~~immediate onfamily ~~the~~members) ~~Base~~directly ~~blockchain,~~in aour ~~“Layer-2”~~funds ~~scaling~~and ~~network~~investment ~~built~~vehicles. ~~for~~These investments are entered into in the ~~online,~~ordinary ~~end-user-to-end-user~~course ~~network~~of ~~underlying~~business ~~Ethereum~~on ~~tokens~~substantially (the ~~“Ethereum~~same ~~Network”).~~terms Noas ~~single~~those ~~entity~~prevailing ~~owns~~at orthe ~~operates~~time ~~the~~for ~~Horizen~~comparable ~~Network~~investments by similarly situated investors.

~~Layer-2~~Item ~~blockchains serve to overcome certain perceived hurdles associated with the Ethereum Network~~9. ~~For example, the Ethereum Network is capable of processing approximately 12 transactions per second, which is commonly referred to as its “throughput~~01.” Financial ByStatements comparison, other payment networks, such as Visa’s global payments network, VisaNet, can process more than 65,000 transactions per second. Some believe that the Ethereum Network is not capable of scaling substantially beyond its current limits due to difficulties in maintaining synchronization among its network of thousands of validators that prohibit higher throughput amounts. Layer-2 blockchains attempt to process transactions among a much smaller set of nodes and ~~then~~Exhibits periodically sync to the Ethereum Network according to a set of cryptographic rules that allow potentially thousands of the transactions that occur on the Layer-2 blockchain to be represented in a single transaction on the Ethereum Network. This configuration seeks to increase network speeds across associated Layer-2 blockchains while harnessing the security provided by the Ethereum Network’s large, decentralized validator base. Layer-2 blockchains operate like a smaller Ethereum Network in that they can process transactions and facilitate smart contracts, though at a higher throughput, yet attempt to borrow from the Ethereum Network’s security through various synchronization mechanisms.

To achieve these scaling goals, the design of the Base blockchain is centered around “optimistic rollups,” a mechanism by which a smaller set of Layer-2 nodes process users’ transactions and then batches those transactions into a single transaction that “rolls up” to the Ethereum Network. Rather than validating every single transaction like the Ethereum Network, optimistic rollups assume that transactions are valid unless challenged by a validator during a dispute period by submitting a proof of the invalid transactions. If there are no challenges during a dispute period applicable to a batch of transactions, those transactions are finalized to the Ethereum Network and cannot be undone without manipulating the Ethereum Network against protocol rules. Because transactions on many Layer-2 blockchains such as the Base blockchain are submitted as a single transaction on the Ethereum Network, transaction fees associated with Ethereum Network transactions may be allocated among all the Layer-2 blockchain transactions, resulting in much lower cost per transaction than if they were conducted directly on the Ethereum Network.(d) Exhibits


Exhibit No.		Description

99.1		Press Release, dated August 4, 2025, of Grayscale
104		Cover Page Interactive Data File (the cover page XBRL tags are embedded within the inline XBRL document).

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

			Grayscale Investments Sponsors, LLC, as Sponsor of Grayscale Horizen Trust (ZEN)
Date:	~~July~~August 184, 2025	By:	/s/ Edward McGee
			Edward McGeeChief Financial Officer*

* The Registrant is a trust and the identified person signing this report is signing in their capacity as an authorized officer of Grayscale Investments Sponsors, LLC, the Sponsor of the Registrant.

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