Secret Network
Secret Network is a nonprofit-operated Layer-1 blockchain launched in 2020 that enables privacy-preserving smart contracts and confidential AI compute via TEE-based Secret Contracts, SecretVM (Intel TDX and AMD SEV-SNP), and the SNIP-20 token standard, serving developers, DeFi users, and regulated-industry enterprises.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2020
- HeadquartersChicago, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Secret Network does
Secret Network operates a Layer-1 blockchain launched in 2020 as the first mainnet with privacy-preserving smart contracts, built on Cosmos SDK with CosmWasm and operated by the Secret Network Foundation (a nonprofit based in Chicago). Its core technical differentiator is confidential computing via Trusted Execution Environments: Secret Contracts encrypt inputs, outputs, and state by default, while SecretVM extends this to general-purpose workloads and LLM inference using Intel TDX and AMD SEV-SNP hardware isolation. Independent hardware attestation is delivered through Intel Trust Authority, integrated by default into every SecretVM and exposed via a TLS-bound token endpoint.
The platform's product surface spans Secret Contracts (privacy-preserving smart contracts), Secret Bridges and the SNIP-20 token standard (which wrap any bridged token with privacy), SecretVM/SecretAI (confidential compute and AI inference infrastructure), and a recently announced DataHaven integration for verifiable private storage. Revenue mechanics are split between on-chain SCRT token utility (transaction fees, staking, governance) and subscription-style billing for enterprise-facing SecretAI/SecretVM services. Distribution is primarily self-serve through developer documentation and the SecretAI portal, with a Builder's Program and developer-relations motion targeting technical audiences.
Go-to-market targets multiple segments in parallel: AI developers and data-sensitive application builders (primary), privacy-focused DeFi users (primary), and enterprise/regulated-industry buyers (secondary) needing HIPAA/GDPR/SOC 2/ISO 27001-aligned confidential compute. Leadership includes Alex Zaidelson (CEO of SCRT Labs) and Lisa Loud (Executive Director of the Foundation, also FLUIDEFI co-founder). The company raised $11.5 million in 2021 from Blocktower Capital and Arrington Capital and suffered a $4.67 million bridge exploit in June 2026 stemming from a third-party token contract vulnerability.
Secret Network firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Secret Network
- Legal name
- Secret Network Foundation
- Website
- https://scrt.network
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2020
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Secret Network is a nonprofit-operated Layer-1 blockchain launched in 2020 that enables privacy-preserving smart contracts and confidential AI compute via TEE-based Secret Contracts, SecretVM (Intel TDX and AMD SEV-SNP), and the SNIP-20 token standard, serving developers, DeFi users, and regulated-industry enterprises.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Secret Network industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Blockchain Infrastructure
- NAICS
- Securities and Commodity Exchanges (523210), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)
- SIC
- Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200), Finance Services (6199)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Layer 1 Base Protocols & Consensus (execution, consensus, security, clients) (FSAPAAAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Confidential Computing & Hardware-backed Protection (TEE/HSM) (HDADAFAJ), Regulatory Reporting, Tax & Audit Trails (reconciliation, provenance) (FSAPAJAI), Authorization & Permissions (delegation, allowances, capability-based access, session keys) (FSAPACAJ)
Keywords
Where Secret Network is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Chicago
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Secret Network business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- SCRT Token Utility: SCRT is the native token used for staking, governance participation, and transaction fees on the Secret Network. Validators and delegators earn rewards through the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism.
- Confidential Computing Services: SecretVM services for confidential AI inference and enterprise workloads, with independent attestation via Intel Trust Authority available as a standard feature.
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels7 records
Secret Network product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Secret Network operates a privacy-preserving Layer 1 blockchain that enables decentralized applications with encrypted smart contract execution via Trusted Execution Environments. The platform sells confidential computing infrastructure (SecretVM) and developer tooling for building private dApps, confidential AI inference, and cross-chain privacy via the SNIP-20 token standard.
Product overview
Secret Network is a privacy-first blockchain platform and Confidential Computing Hub for web3 and AI. The core offering consists of Secret Network (the mainnet blockchain with privacy-preserving smart contracts), powered by Secret Contracts that encrypt inputs, outputs, and state by default. The platform provides confidential computing through SecretVM, supporting both Intel TDX and AMD SEV-SNP trusted execution environments. Key products include Secret Bridges and SNIP-20 standard for making any blockchain token private, Secret AI for confidential LLM inference inside TEEs, and the DataHaven integration for verifiable private storage. The ecosystem enables developers to build dApps that are decentralized yet private, with hardware-grade isolation and independent attestation capabilities.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- SecretVM: Confidential computing platform powered by trusted execution environments (Intel TDX and AMD SEV-SNP) for secure, private computation.
- Secret Contracts
- SNIP-20
Products and services
- Secret Network The first mainnet blockchain with privacy-preserving smart contracts, launched in 2020, enabling decentralized and permissionless applications with end-to-end encryption through confidential computing. Targeted at developers and enterprises building privacy-sensitive dApps and AI workloads.
- Secret Contracts Privacy-preserving smart contracts where inputs, outputs, and state are encrypted by default, allowing sensitive data to be used onchain without being publicly exposed. Built for developers of confidential dApps.
- SecretVM Confidential virtual machines providing hardware-encrypted execution environments powered by Intel TDX and AMD SEV-SNP trusted execution environments. Enables confidential computing for AI inference and private enterprise workloads.
- Secret AI AI infrastructure layer enabling confidential AI inference with large-scale GPU work for LLM models inside trusted execution environments, positioned as part of the Confidential Computing Hub for web3 and AI.
- Secret Bridges Cross-chain bridge infrastructure enabling users to make any blockchain token private by bridging assets and wrapping them with the SNIP-20 standard for cross-chain privacy.
- SNIP-20 Token Standard Privacy-preserving token standard for Secret Network that enables any bridged token to become privacy-preserving with encrypted balances and transaction data.
Quantifiable outcome
- ~35% higher events per second on AMD Zen 4 vs Intel in CPU benchmarks
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Secret Network
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Secret Network technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
AI capability5 records
Feature5 records
Secret Network partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- AxelarcoreAxelar provides cross-chain interoperability via IBC for Secret Network's bridge. The June 2026 exploit stemmed from a modified CW20-ICS20 contract on Secret's side, not Axelar's core protocol. Axelar disabled affected connections and is coordinating with law enforcement.
- DataHavencoreDataHaven provides private, verifiable storage complementing Secret Network's confidential computation. Together they form a complete privacy pipeline: confidential compute paired with verifiable memory. DataHaven testnet is live with mainnet integration planned.
- IntelcoreIntel Trust Authority integrated into every SecretVM for independent hardware attestation. Intel TDX (Trust Domain Extensions) provides the trusted execution environment foundation for Secret Network's confidential computing platform.
- AMDcoreAMD SEV-SNP (Secure Encrypted Virtualization with Secure Nested Paging) added to SecretVM fleet, running on Zen 4 architecture EPYC 9124 processors, providing AMD-based TEE option alongside Intel TDX.
- GenesysGominorGenesysGo sponsored the DePIN panel at Futurist Conference 2024 featuring Lisa Loud of Secret Network Foundation, discussing innovations in Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks.
- Women in Web3 PrivacyminorWomen in Web3 Privacy is collaborating with Secret Network as part of the .privacy initiative to bring privacy-focused technology into web infrastructure through an ICANN top-level domain application.
- FLUIDEFIminorFLUIDEFI co-founder Lisa Loud serves as Executive Director of Secret Network Foundation. FLUIDEFI participates in the .privacy initiative alongside Secret Network for ICANN top-level domain application.
- .privacy InitiativeminorPartnership between .privacy team, Women in Web3 Privacy, Secret Network, and FLUIDEFI announced October 2025, aiming to apply for ICANN top-level domain in 2026 to promote privacy and data sovereignty on internet infrastructure.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Secret Network competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Oasis Network: Privacy-preserving L1 using TEEs (Intel SGX) for confidential smart contracts. Closest direct competitor to Secret Network's privacy-by-default execution model, targeting similar confidential DeFi and data tokenization use cases.
- Aleo: L1 blockchain using zero-knowledge proofs for private programmability. Competes with Secret Network in the privacy-preserving smart contract category, albeit via ZK rather than TEE.
- Phala Network: TEE-based confidential computing platform on Polkadot offering private smart contracts. Directly comparable to SecretVM's hardware-encrypted execution model for AI and DeFi workloads.
- Inco Network: Confidential computing EVM chain using TEEs and FHE. Competes head-to-head with Secret Network in confidential DeFi and is one of the closest architectural analogues in the Ethereum-aligned privacy space.
- Aztec Network: Privacy-focused L2/zk-rollup for Ethereum with private smart contracts. Competes with Secret Network for privacy-preserving programmable chains, particularly for institutional DeFi.
Emerging players
- Lit Protocol: Decentralized key management and confidential compute network using TEEs. Overlaps with Secret Network on TEE-based privacy infrastructure and access control for AI and web3 applications.
- iExec RLC: Decentralized cloud computing marketplace leveraging Intel SGX TEEs for confidential compute. Comparable to SecretVM's positioning as TEE-based confidential compute infrastructure.
- Mina Protocol: Lightweight ZK-based L1 with privacy-preserving programmability. Partial overlap with Secret Network in offering privacy primitives, though via ZK-SNARKs rather than TEEs.
- Alephium: Sharded L1 focused on programmability and privacy through stateful UTXO and custom VMs. Tangentially comparable as a privacy- and developer-focused alternative L1.
Broad incumbents
- Sui: High-throughput L1 from Mysten Labs built on Move with growing privacy features. A broader incumbent that competes for developer mindshare and liquidity in the same smart contract platform category.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Secret Network social profiles
Digital presenceSecret Network financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Secret Network leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Secret Network funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors5 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Secret Network M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Secret Network
What does Secret Network do?
Secret Network operates a privacy-preserving Layer 1 blockchain that enables decentralized applications with encrypted smart contract execution via Trusted Execution Environments. The platform sells confidential computing infrastructure (SecretVM) and developer tooling for building private dApps, confidential AI inference, and cross-chain privacy via the SNIP-20 token standard.
Is Secret Network a public or private company?
Secret Network is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Secret Network founded?
Secret Network was founded in 2020. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Secret Network based?
Secret Network is headquartered in Chicago, United States, in the North America region.
How does Secret Network make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. SCRT Token Utility is the primary driver. The others are confidential Computing Services.
Who are Secret Network's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Oasis Network, Aleo, Phala Network, Inco Network and Aztec Network. Emerging players are Lit Protocol, iExec RLC, Mina Protocol and Alephium. Sui is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Secret Network have an API?
No public API is recorded for Secret Network.
What industry is Secret Network in?
Secret Network's product category is Blockchain Infrastructure. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAPAAAA, Layer 1 Base Protocols & Consensus (execution, consensus, security, clients), with a secondary code of HDADAFAJ, Confidential Computing & Hardware-backed Protection (TEE/HSM). Its NAICS code is 523210 and its SIC code is 6200.