What Is Zebec Network? ZBCN Token Price, Streaming Payments and Trading Guide

Zebec Network is building the infrastructure for money that moves every second instead of every two weeks. The protocol enables real-time payroll streaming, where an employee's salary flows into their wallet continuously rather than arriving as a lump sum on payday. That concept alone would make it interesting. What makes it unusual is that Zebec has actually plugged this technology into the traditional financial system: in December 2025, the project joined the Nacha Payments Innovation Alliance, which governs the $85 trillion U.S. ACH network, putting it alongside JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, Circle, and ADP.

The ZBCN token trades at roughly $0.002 in February 2026, with a market cap around $200 million. It is down about 70% from its all-time high of $0.007 but has gained 217% over the past year. The final scheduled token unlock completes in March 2026, after which ZBCN shifts to fully deflationary tokenomics with no new supply entering circulation. That transition is the single biggest structural event in the token's history, and it is weeks away.

Who Built Zebec Network?

Zebec was founded by Sam Thapaliya in 2021, originally built on Solana as a continuous settlement protocol for streaming payments. Thapaliya is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor focused on Web3 infrastructure. Simon Babakhani serves as CEO, handling business development and institutional partnerships.

The project raised $35 million from Solana Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Circle Ventures, Breyer Capital, Republic Capital, and Lightspeed Venture Partners. That investor roster matters because it spans both crypto-native funds and traditional venture capital, signaling early confidence in Zebec's ability to bridge both worlds.

Since 2021, Zebec has expanded from a single-chain Solana protocol into a multi-chain ecosystem operating across BNB Chain, NEAR Protocol, Arbitrum, Base, Ethereum, and its own Layer-3 blockchain called Nautilus Chain. The project also created an investment arm called Payroll Growth Partners (PGP), which acquires traditional payroll companies and integrates Zebec's blockchain backend into their operations. This is an unusual strategy for a crypto project: rather than waiting for enterprises to adopt Web3 payroll, Zebec is buying the companies that already process payroll and upgrading them from the inside.

How Does Streaming Payment Work?

Traditional payroll operates on batch processing. An employer calculates hours, submits a payment file, the bank processes it over one to three business days, and the employee receives a lump sum. Between payday cycles, the employer holds the employee's earned wages. Streaming payments invert this entirely.

With Zebec's protocol, an employer deposits funds into a smart contract and configures a payment stream. The contract calculates the per-second rate based on salary and pay period, then continuously transfers tokens to the employee's wallet. If someone earns $5,000 per month, that works out to roughly $0.0019 per second flowing into their wallet in real time. The employee can withdraw accumulated funds at any point rather than waiting for a scheduled payday.

This model has practical advantages beyond novelty. Employees get immediate access to earned wages, which reduces reliance on payday loans and early wage access products that charge fees. Employers retain capital until the exact moment it is earned, improving cash flow management. And the entire process runs on programmable smart contracts, eliminating manual payroll processing, bank intermediaries, and settlement delays.

Zebec's streaming engine supports multiple token types (stablecoins like USDC, native crypto, and fiat-pegged tokens) and works across all chains where the protocol is deployed.

What Products Does Zebec Offer?

Zebec has evolved well beyond a simple streaming protocol. The ecosystem now includes five distinct product lines that form a vertically integrated payments stack.

Zebec Payroll is the core product. It handles real-time salary streaming for Web3 companies and, through WageLink, traditional employers. WageLink integrates with Circle and Stellar for USDC payroll and near-zero-cost cross-border remittances. It also offers early wage access, budgeting tools, bill payments, and pay cards within a single application. The platform services hundreds of companies across both Web2 and Web3 economies.

Zebec Card is a multi-chain debit card available in 138 countries with Apple Pay and Google Pay support. It comes in Silver, Carbon, and Black tiers, with rewards up to 5% ZBCN cashback. Users can spend any of 150+ supported tokens directly at merchants, with automatic fiat conversion at the point of sale. The card uses Visa infrastructure and connects to Coinbase for fiat on-ramp and off-ramp.

Zebec Safe is a multi-signature treasury management platform. Web3 DAOs and companies use it to manage group assets with configurable approval thresholds, streaming disbursements, and audit trails.

Nautilus Chain is Zebec's own EVM-compatible Layer-3 blockchain built for high-speed, low-cost payment transactions. Running the streaming protocol on dedicated infrastructure avoids congestion from unrelated DeFi activity on shared chains like Ethereum or Solana.

DePIN Point-of-Sale terminals. Zebec is expanding into Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks with proprietary PoS devices that enable merchants to accept crypto payments directly. This connects on-chain payment streams to physical retail environments.

Why Does the Nacha Partnership Matter?

The Nacha Payments Innovation Alliance governs the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network, which processes virtually every direct deposit, bill payment, and bank transfer in the United States. In 2024, the ACH network handled over $85 trillion in transactions. Zebec joining this alliance in December 2025 positions it alongside institutional members including JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, Fiserv, Circle, and ADP.

This matters for two reasons. First, it validates Zebec's compliance infrastructure. Nacha membership requires adherence to strict payment processing standards, meaning Zebec's technology has been vetted against traditional banking requirements. Second, it opens a pathway for Zebec's streaming payroll to connect directly to existing bank rails rather than operating in a parallel crypto-only system.

The NatPay partnership announced in December 2025 is the practical implementation of this strategy. NatPay processes over $170 billion annually for 300,000+ ACH clients. The integration lets employers route payouts through both traditional bank rails (ACH, wire, FedNow) and Zebec's programmable Web3 rails from a single platform. If even a small percentage of NatPay's existing clients adopt Zebec-powered features like streaming payroll or USDC disbursements, that represents meaningful transaction volume flowing through the protocol.

Zebec also achieved ISO 20022 compliance in December 2025, the global financial messaging standard used by SWIFT, central banks, and major payment networks. This technical compatibility is a prerequisite for institutional adoption at scale.

ZBCN Tokenomics

The most important thing about ZBCN's tokenomics is the March 2026 inflection point. Once the final vesting schedule completes, no new tokens enter circulation. From that point forward, the only supply dynamic is contraction through the token buyback program, which is funded by revenue from payroll processing, card fees, and partner contracts. Zebec reports that buyback volume has grown at an annualized rate of over 70% since the program launched in late 2023.

ZBCN's utility spans multiple product touchpoints. Employers pay payroll processing fees in ZBCN. Card users can spend ZBCN directly at merchants. Holders stake for yield and governance rights. Starting mid-2026, staked ZBCN balances within the SuperApp will determine card reward tiers, creating a direct link between token holding and real-world spending benefits.

The 1:10 migration from ZBC to ZBCN in 2024 is worth understanding. The original ZBC token (10 billion supply) was replaced with ZBCN (100 billion supply) at a 1:10 ratio, meaning holders received 10 ZBCN for every ZBC. The token's economic value did not change; only the unit denomination shifted. If you see references to ZBC prices from 2022-2023, divide by 10 to get the ZBCN equivalent.

How Has ZBCN Price Performed?

ZBCN's price chart reflects a project that has built real partnerships and products but operates in a market that has not yet priced in execution. The 217% gain in 2025 was driven by concrete catalysts: Nacha membership, NatPay integration, ISO 20022 compliance, and the Zebec Card expansion. The subsequent decline from ATH tracks the broader altcoin market weakness in early 2026 rather than any Zebec-specific failure.

At $0.002 with a $200 million market cap, ZBCN is priced like an early-stage project despite having institutional partnerships, live products across 138 countries, and imminent deflationary tokenomics. That valuation gap is either an opportunity (if execution continues) or justified (if adoption metrics remain modest relative to the ambition).

How Does Zebec Compare to Competitors?

Zebec's competitive moat is not the streaming technology itself. Superfluid and Sablier both offer competent payment streaming at the protocol level. What separates Zebec is the vertical stack. No other streaming protocol operates its own blockchain, issues consumer debit cards in 138 countries, acquires traditional payroll companies, holds Nacha membership, and deploys physical PoS terminals. Competitors provide developer tools. Zebec provides the entire pipeline from employer to employee to merchant.

The risk is that vertical integration spreads resources thin. Running a blockchain, a card program, a payroll acquisition strategy, DePIN hardware, and institutional partnerships simultaneously is ambitious for a team with a $200 million market cap. If any single component underperforms, it can drag attention and capital from the others.

What Are the Risks?

Adoption metrics are opaque. Zebec claims to service "hundreds of companies" and reports 50,000 monthly users. But specific data points on payroll volume processed, total card transactions, or streaming revenue are not publicly reported. Without transparent metrics, it is difficult to assess how much of the partnership activity (Nacha, NatPay, Kinexys) has converted into actual transaction volume versus remaining in pilot or integration phases.

100 billion token supply is a psychological anchor. At $0.002 per token, ZBCN needs to reach $0.01 for a 5x return. That sounds achievable in percentage terms, but $0.01 represents a $1 billion market cap on fully diluted supply. Reaching $0.10 implies $10 billion. The supply denomination from the 1:10 migration creates a low unit price that can distort perception of what each price level actually requires in terms of capital inflow.

JP Morgan/Kinexys integration needs context. Zebec's connection to JP Morgan's Kinexys platform (formerly Onyx) is a B2B infrastructure integration for institutional cross-border payments. JP Morgan has not invested in ZBCN tokens. JP Morgan is not promoting ZBCN as an investment. Community narratives that conflate a technology integration with an endorsement are misleading and should be treated skeptically.

Competition from established payroll processors. ADP, Gusto, Rippling, and Deel already serve the payroll market with massive distribution networks. If streaming payroll proves popular, these incumbents can build or acquire the capability faster than Zebec can scale. Zebec's Payroll Growth Partners acquisition strategy is an attempt to shortcut this distribution gap, but it requires sustained capital deployment.

SuperApp execution risk. The 2026 roadmap centers on the Zebec Pay SuperApp, which merges payroll, cards, staking, and payments into a single interface. Product consolidation at this scale is technically complex. Delays or poor user experience could undermine the utility flywheel that links ZBCN staking to card rewards to spending volume to buyback revenue.

Post-unlock price action is uncertain. The March 2026 final unlock is structurally positive because it removes sell pressure from early investors. But it does not automatically create buy pressure. If product adoption fails to accelerate after the unlock, ZBCN could trade sideways or down even with deflationary tokenomics, because buyback volume depends on product revenue that has not been publicly quantified.

How to Trade ZBCN on Phemex

ZBCN is available for spot trading on Phemex.

Step 1: Open the ZBCN/USDT trading page on Phemex.

Step 2: Fund your account via fiat deposit or crypto transfer.

Step 3: Size your position appropriately. ZBCN is a small-cap token ($200M market cap) with daily volume around $7-10 million. Liquidity is thinner than large-cap tokens, so larger orders should use limit orders to avoid slippage.

Step 4: Watch the March 2026 unlock completion as a potential catalyst. The shift to deflationary tokenomics could change market structure, but only if accompanied by visible product adoption growth.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What happened to the original ZBC token?

ZBC was migrated to ZBCN in 2024 at a 1:10 ratio. Every holder received 10 ZBCN for each ZBC. The original ZBC tokens were burned. If you still hold ZBC, check the official Zebec portal for conversion instructions. The migration increased the denominated supply from 10 billion to 100 billion but did not change any holder's economic value.

Is Zebec actually connected to JP Morgan?

Zebec has a technology integration with JP Morgan's Kinexys platform for institutional cross-border payments. This is a B2B infrastructure relationship. JP Morgan has not invested in ZBCN, does not endorse ZBCN as an investment, and is not involved in Zebec's consumer products. Treat any community claims suggesting otherwise with heavy skepticism.

What happens after the March 2026 final unlock?

No new ZBCN tokens will enter circulation. The supply becomes fixed at 100 billion, and the only ongoing supply dynamic will be buybacks funded by product revenues (payroll fees, card transaction fees, partner contracts). If buyback volume exceeds remaining selling pressure from unlocked holders, this could drive price appreciation. If it does not, the deflationary label alone will not move the needle.

Bottom Line

Zebec Network sits at an interesting inflection point. The protocol has built a genuinely differentiated product stack: streaming payroll connected to traditional ACH rails, a debit card live in 138 countries, its own Layer-3 chain, and Nacha membership that puts it in rooms with the largest payment processors in the world. The March 2026 final unlock removes the last structural supply overhang, transitioning ZBCN to deflationary tokenomics backed by real product revenue.

The gap between ambition and proof is still wide. Adoption metrics are not publicly transparent. The $200 million market cap reflects both the opportunity and the market's uncertainty about institutional partnerships converting to meaningful transaction volume. If the SuperApp launch drives visible growth in payroll volume, card usage, and active wallets, ZBCN's post-unlock deflationary structure gives it favorable supply dynamics. If adoption stalls, the deflationary label alone will not support price, because buybacks depend on revenue that remains unquantified. Position accordingly.

This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. ZBCN is a small-cap token with limited liquidity relative to major cryptocurrencies. Partnerships with institutional names like Nacha and JP Morgan Kinexys do not constitute endorsements of ZBCN as an investment. Never trade with money you cannot afford to lose.