Aztec

What Aztec does

Aztec is a foundation-stewarded blockchain protocol company building the first decentralized, privacy-preserving Layer 2 (ZK rollup) on Ethereum, headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, with a legacy UK entity in London. Founded in 2017-2018 by cryptographer Zachary Williamson (co-author of Plonk and the original AZTEC protocol paper), the company's core offering is a programmable privacy stack comprising the Aztec Network, the Noir zero-knowledge domain-specific language, the Aztec.nr smart contract framework, the Barretenberg proving system, and the Private Execution Environment (PXE) that generates proofs client-side on user devices. Day-1 decentralized sequencing, proving, and governance, plus a single global note tree and global nullifier tree, are central architectural differentiators intended to eliminate backdoors and fragmented privacy pools.

The company monetizes indirectly: its Swiss Stiftung does not directly capture protocol revenue, with usage-based L2 gas (Fee Juice) being the native transaction mechanism and capital raised through venture rounds (Series A led by Paradigm at $17M in December 2021; Series B led by a16z crypto at $100M in December 2022) and a community-first AZTEC token sale via Continuous Clearing Auction co-developed with Uniswap Labs ($61.3M from 16,741 participants in December 2025). Go-to-market is community-led and product-led, anchored on open-source distribution under Apache 2.0, multi-wave hackathons (Alpha Build 1 and 2 with $100K in prizes), grants programs, and standards-body integrations (CMTA CMTAT for tokenized securities, rolled out by Taurus). Strategic extensions include the May 2026 acquisition of Obsidion Labs (ZKPassport) for privacy-preserving identity verification and active engagement with regulators including the UK HM Treasury and Bank of England on digital-pound design.

Customers and ecosystem participants span privacy-focused application developers (Nemi, Nyx, Olla, Azguard, Aztecscan, human.tech bridge), institutional finance (CMTA, Taurus), DAOs and identity protocols (Aragon, NounsDAO, Verifiable Credentials Protocol), and government stakeholders exploring privacy-preserving CBDCs. The team of 11-50 employees is led by Williamson (Founder/CEO), Ariel Gabizon (Chief Scientist, Plonk co-author), Joe Andrews (Co-founder & Head of Product), and Arnaud Schenk (Tech Lead). Headcount is not publicly disclosed, but a world-class cryptography team is referenced throughout, anchored by a $450,000 largest bug bounty payout and a $2M total bug bounty program that signal mature security practice.

Name

Aztec

Legal name

Aztec Foundation (a Stiftung incorporated and registered in Zug, Switzerland)

Website

https://aztec.network

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Aztec builds the first decentralized privacy-preserving Layer 2 (ZK rollup) on Ethereum, stewarded by a Swiss foundation. It serves privacy-focused application developers, institutional finance, DAOs, and policymakers via the Noir programming language, decentralized sequencer infrastructure, and recently acquired ZKPassport identity verification.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Privacy-preserving Layer 2 Blockchain Protocol

NAICS

Securities and Commodity Exchanges (52321)

SIC

Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYFSAPABAB

Smart Contract Frameworks & SDKs (developer kits, templates, standards)

Financial & Insurance/Blockchain & Web3/Smart Contract Platforms & Developer Tooling (SDKs, APIs, indexing, oracles)

Keywords

• Zero-knowledge rollup
• Ethereum Layer 2
• Privacy blockchain
• Zero-knowledge proofs
• Programmable privacy

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. AZTEC token sale: Aztec completed a community-first token sale on December 6, 2025 via a novel Continuous Clearing Auction (CCA) mechanism co-developed with Uniswap Labs, raising approximately $61 million from 16,741 participants (over half from community members). Tokens confer staking and governance rights over the Aztec Network.
2. Network transaction fees (Fee Juice): Aztec Network users pay transaction fees in Fee Juice (gas) on L2. The L2 settlement proof is published to Ethereum L1. Fees amortize across rollup participants and are partially subsidized by Aztec block rewards.
3. Foundation stewardship (non-revenue): The Aztec Foundation (Swiss Stiftung in Zug) stewards open-source development of Aztec and Noir; the protocol itself is designed to be credibly neutral and decentralized, with no centralized operator capturing fees. The Foundation does not directly monetize the protocol.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Aztec operates an open-source, decentralized, privacy-preserving Ethereum Layer 2 (ZK rollup) that lets developers build programmable private and public smart contracts via the Noir language and the Aztec.nr framework. The network executes private functions client-side in a Private Execution Environment (PXE) producing ZK proofs, while public functions run on the Aztec Virtual Machine; rollup proofs settle to Ethereum L1, with 3,500+ permissionless sequencers.

Product overview

Aztec delivers a unified privacy-preserving platform for Ethereum rather than a single product, organized around the Aztec Network (the first decentralized, privacy-preserving Ethereum Layer 2 with day-1 decentralized sequencing, proving, and governance) and its supporting stack. Programmable privacy is enabled across data, identity, and compute through the Noir programming language and Aztec.nr smart contract framework, which compile to ACIR and run on Aztec's Barretenberg proving system. Client-side privacy is delivered through the Private Execution Environment (PXE) and the Chonk proving system, while partner-built and Aztec-affiliated apps such as Azguard Wallet, Aztecscan, NemiApp, Nyx, Olla, and the human.tech Ethereum-to-Aztec bridge showcase the network's capabilities. Beyond the core L2, Aztec extends its offering with the acquired ZKPassport identity-verification protocol (Obsidion Labs), the jointly developed CMTA CMTAT framework for tokenized securities (deployed on the Aztec L2 and rolled out by Taurus), and a suite of developer tools (Aztec CLI, Aztec.js SDK, Sandbox/Playground, and node/sequencer/prover operator infrastructure) that together span the protocol, application, and tooling layers. Underlying research outputs — Plonk, Turbo-PLONK, plookup, SHPLONK, Zeromorph, and Honk — anchor the cryptographic foundation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Noir: An open-source Rust-like domain-specific programming language for writing privacy-preserving zero-knowledge programs, developed by Aztec and the industry-leading language for ZK application development.
• Ignition Chain
• Aztec Alpha Network
• Aztec Connect

Products and services

• Aztec Network The first decentralized, privacy-preserving Layer 2 (ZK rollup) on Ethereum with day-1 decentralized sequencing, proving, and governance. Settles rollup proofs to Ethereum L1; programmable privacy across data, identity, and compute.
• Noir

Quantifiable outcome

• 80%+ reduction in proof generation time and cost via AI optimization
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

AI capability5 records

Feature10 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered strategic, flagship, core and minor.

• Obsidion (ZKPassport)strategicStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 May 2026British startup behind the zero-knowledge identity protocol ZKPassport, acquired by Aztec Labs in May 2026. ZKPassport enables users to prove age, nationality, and humanity by reading NFC chips from passports/IDs. 17,000+ users from Aztec's token sale and hundreds of attendees across 11 Latin American countries have used it. Aztec Labs plans to scale ZKPassport into default infrastructure for online identity verification.
• Uniswap LabsflagshipTechnology or Integration · 6 December 2025Co-developed the Continuous Clearing Auction (CCA) mechanism used for Aztec's December 6, 2025 community-first token sale, which raised approximately $61 million from 16,741 participants. The CCA protocol has been audited seven times including by OpenZeppelin and Spearbit.
• CMTA (Capital Markets and Technology Association)strategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerHeadquartered in Geneva. Launched a new version of its CMTAT framework for tokenized securities using a Layer 2 protocol developed by the Aztec Foundation, enabling confidential transactions while maintaining regulatory compliance. Open-source under an unlimited license via GitHub.
• TaurusstrategicImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerGeneva-based digital asset infrastructure company handling the rollout of the new CMTA CMTAT standard built on top of the Aztec Foundation's Layer 2 protocol.
• AragoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBuilt a private voting solution for NounsDAO together with Aztec Labs using Noir, demonstrating ZKP-based on-chain voting that prevents collusion and retaliation.
• Verifiable Credentials Protocol (Noir-W3C-Verifiable-Credentials)coreTechnology or IntegrationCollaborative project at github.com/orgs/Noir-W3C-Verifiable-Credentials/repositories that builds smart contracts with Noir to verify users' credentials while preserving their identities' privacy, laying the building blocks of a privacy-preserving identity system.
• NounsDAOminorGTM or Marketing PartnerImplemented private on-chain voting with Aztec Labs and Aragon to demonstrate ZKP-based voting that protects voter identity and choice.
• DappicomminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorking with Aztec Labs to bring Nintendo games on-chain, allowing users to prove in-game outcomes without revealing how.
• OpenZeppelincoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerOne of seven auditors of the Continuous Clearing Auction (CCA) protocol used by Aztec and Uniswap Labs. Audited the Aztec CCA token distribution mechanism that raised $59 million in November 2025 from over 17,000 bidders.
• SpearbitcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerOne of seven auditors of the Continuous Clearing Auction (CCA) protocol. Provided security review for the auction mechanism underpinning Aztec's token distribution.
• DeFi Education FundminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAztec contributed to the DeFi Education Fund's January 2024 response to FinCEN regarding the proposed rulemaking that would classify "Convertible Virtual Currency Mixing" as a primary money-laundering concern.
• Bank of England / HM Treasury (UK Government)strategicOthersAztec Labs has engaged since 2023 with UK governmental authorities on crypto regulation, including responses to HMT's cryptoassets consultation (Feb 2023), a joint BoE/HMT consultation on the digital pound (June 2023), and a March 2024 request for information on digital-pound privacy (with a16z). Many recommendations were incorporated by HMT.
• Zachary WilliamsonstrategicOthersFounder of the Aztec Foundation; co-author of the Aztec Protocol, Plonk, plookup, and other foundational research papers. Represents Aztec at events such as ETH Denver and contributes commentary on the privacy narrative via the Aztec blog.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Polygon zkEVM: Polygon Labs operates a ZK rollup (Polygon zkEVM) on Ethereum. Both target EVM-equivalent ZK execution on Ethereum; Aztec is differentiated by day-1 decentralization and a privacy-by-default programming model (Noir).
• StarkWare (StarkNet): StarkWare builds StarkNet, a validity-proof (ZK) rollup on Ethereum using STARKs. Both Aztec and StarkWare sell Ethereum L2 capacity with ZK proofs; the key difference is the proof system (SNARKs vs STARKs) and Aztec's privacy-first positioning.
• Matter Labs (zkSync): Matter Labs operates zkSync Era, a ZK rollup L2 on Ethereum. It directly competes with Aztec for Ethereum L2 developer share, though Aztec's programmable privacy and UTXO-style private state are its differentiation.
• Scroll: Scroll is a ZK rollup L2 on Ethereum emphasizing EVM bytecode equivalence. Competes head-to-head with Aztec for ZK-rollup developer mindshare, though without Aztec's programmable privacy layer.
• Zcash: Zcash is the original privacy-focused blockchain using zk-SNARKs for shielded transactions. Grayscale's 2026 outlook lists Zcash and Aztec together as flagship privacy beneficiaries; both anchor the on-chain privacy narrative.
• Aleo: Aleo is a Layer 1 blockchain with ZK-execution by default and a Leo/Aleo-specific DSL. It is the closest L1 analog to Aztec's privacy-by-default ZK model; they compete for the same ZK-application developer pool.
• Mina Protocol: Mina is a ZK-focused L1 using recursive SNARKs to keep the chain lightweight. Competes with Aztec for privacy-preserving ZK application development, though as a separate L1 rather than an Ethereum L2.

Emerging players

• Railgun: Railgun is a privacy DeFi protocol on Ethereum using zk-SNARKs. Named alongside Aztec and Zcash in Grayscale's 2026 privacy outlook; it is a partial-overlap competitor focused specifically on private DeFi rather than general-purpose L2.
• Iron Fish: Iron Fish is a privacy-focused Layer 1 using zk-SNARKs to shield all on-chain data. Competes with Aztec for privacy-chain developer mindshare, with less Ethereum-aligned distribution.
• Secret Network: Secret Network is a Cosmos-based privacy-preserving smart contract platform using TEEs and cryptography. Adjacent competitor to Aztec in the privacy-preserving compute category, though with different trust assumptions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/aztecnetwork
• GitHubgithub.com/AztecProtocol
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCyr94cC0lyNJkyCmmLwbh7A

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds7 records

Investors25 records

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M&A

Investments2 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Aztec