What Ternoa does

Ternoa is a Web3 security infrastructure company operating a next-generation PayFi Layer 2 built on Base, delivering runtime protection and post-quantum encryption for decentralized applications, DeFi protocols, enterprises, and AI products. The company's core technology combines two proprietary security layers: TIP (TEE Integrity Prover), which captures cryptographic fingerprints of running code every 60 seconds inside TEE enclaves (Intel SGX) and uses AI security agents for continuous runtime verification, and CIFER, which provides zero-key post-quantum encryption using NIST-standardized ML-KEM-768 inside hardware-isolated execution environments. Settlement commitments anchor on Base, with the $CAPS utility token (2.5B max supply, ~1.83B circulating) used for verification fees, encryption operations, and network staking.

The company operates a portfolio of four live products—Time Guardian (encrypted digital legacy and time capsules), Athar (UAE-based PayFi infrastructure for GCC stablecoin payments), Unlinkable (private Ethereum payments), and CIFER Hub (encrypted workspace)—alongside developer tools including Ternoa SAFE multi-sig wallet, Ternoa-JS SDK, REST APIs, and a block explorer. Ternoa generates revenue through usage-based fees on TIP verification cycles, CIFER encryption operations, and Base settlement micro-fees, supplemented by staking rewards for $CAPS validators and TEE enclave operators. Distribution combines product-led growth (npm SDKs, REST APIs, AI Skills) with enterprise field sales through the builder program targeting DeFi protocols, enterprise SaaS, RWA platforms, AI products, and payment service providers, with notable partnerships including Arab Financial Services (Feb 2025) and Mawarid Finance for GCC market expansion.

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Biarritz, France with a regional HQ in Dubai via Athar Finance, Ternoa operates across 30+ countries. The company is privately held with 11-50 employees, has raised $7.3 million from Digital Finance Group and Omnes Capital (Sept 2022), and is led by Founder & CEO Mickael Canu with Martin Oliviero as CFO/COO and Clément Tequi as Deputy CEO.

Name

Ternoa

Legal name

Ternoa

Website

https://ternoa.network

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Ternoa is a Web3 security infrastructure company operating a PayFi Layer 2 on Base that delivers runtime TEE-based verification (TIP) and zero-key post-quantum encryption (CIFER) to DeFi protocols, enterprises, RWA platforms, AI products, and GCC payment service providers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Blockchain Security Infrastructure

NAICS

Computer Systems Design and Related Services (5415), Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

Security Testing Tooling (SAST/DAST for smart contracts, fuzzing) (FSAPAJAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Node Operations, RPC & Infrastructure Services (nodes, validators, RPC, relayers) (FSAPAAAF), Proof of Reserves, Attestations & Custody Assurance (FSAPAJAH), Quantum-Safe Hardware & Embedded Security (TPM/secure elements/firmware) (HDAGAGAJ), Authorization & Permissions (delegation, allowances, capability-based access, session keys) (FSAPACAJ)

Keywords

• Blockchain security infrastructure
• Runtime integrity verification
• Post-quantum encryption
• Web3 developer tooling
• Decentralized finance infrastructure

Headquarters

HQ city

Biarritz

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. TIP Runtime Verification Fees: Fee-based revenue from TIP runtime verification services. Users pay per verification cycle, tiered by plan. Fees cover TEE fingerprint capture, risk comparison, and proof generation operations.
2. TIP Source Verification & Pentesting: Fees for AI scanning of dependencies and deployed code (source verification), and autonomous pentesting cycles for smart contracts and infrastructure.
3. CIFER Encryption Operations: Fees for encryption and decryption operations performed in TEE enclaves. Revenue scales with usage across Web3, Web2, and AI agent workflows.
4. Settlement Fees: Micro-fees per proof or commitment anchored on Base blockchain. Revenue grows with more integrations creating verification, encryption, and settlement operations.
5. Operator Staking Rewards: Validators and TEE enclave operators stake $CAPS to secure the network and earn rewards from actual verification and encryption workloads.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Ternoa sells a Web3 security toolkit comprising TIP (TEE Integrity Prover) for continuous 60-second runtime verification of deployed infrastructure, and CIFER for zero-key post-quantum encryption using ML-KEM-768 and TEE enclaves. It packages these primitives into consumer and enterprise products including Time Guardian (encrypted digital legacy), Athar (PayFi for GCC), Unlinkable (private Ethereum payments), and CIFER Hub (encrypted workspace), with all security operations denominated in the $CAPS utility token and settled on Base. Developers integrate via SDKs, REST APIs, AI Skills, and EVM smart contracts on Ternoa's zkEVM Layer 2.

Product overview

Ternoa is a Web3 security toolkit built on Base featuring four live products: Time Guardian (encrypted digital legacy with time capsules), Athar (PayFi infrastructure for GCC stablecoin payments), Unlinkable (private Ethereum payments), and CIFER Hub (encrypted workspace). Core security layer comprises TIP (runtime TEE integrity verification with 60-second proof cadence), CIFER (zero-key post-quantum encryption using ML-KEM-768 and TEE enclaves), and $CAPS (security utility token with Base settlement). Supporting infrastructure includes Ternoa SAFE multi-sig wallet, staking platform, block explorer, RPC/API endpoints, Ternoa-JS SDK, and Ternoa Wallet. RWA integrations span insurance, real estate, and energy sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• TIP (TEE Integrity Prover): Runtime protection for Web3 infrastructure using TEE enclaves and AI agents for continuous 60-second verification
• CIFER
• $CAPS
• Time Guardian
• Athar Finance
• Unlinkable
• CIFER Hub
• Ternoa SAFE
• Ternoa Wallet
• Ternoa zkEVM+

Products and services

• Time Guardian

Quantifiable outcome

• 60-second continuous verification cadence for runtime integrity monitoring
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

AI capability8 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Mawarid FinancecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2026Mawarid Finance partnership focused on stablecoin-powered card progress with Shariah-compliant or halal finance alignment through traditional finance rails. Represents GCC fintech ecosystem integration for compliant digital asset services.
• Arab Financial Services (AFS)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 February 2025AFS partnership announced February 24, 2025 pairs a leading MEA PSP and fintech enabler with Ternoa and Athar to pioneer stablecoin payments at POS across the GCC region. This strategic partnership enables payment service providers and merchants to accept stablecoins through existing EMV QR and POS infrastructure.
• Polygon CDKcoreTechnology or IntegrationPolygon CDK (Chain Development Kit) integration provides the modular framework for building Ternoa's zkEVM-powered Layer 2. Enables scalability, low fees, EVM compatibility, and interoperability with Ethereum and other zkEVM chains.
• Polygon AggLayercoreTechnology or IntegrationPolygon AggLayer integration enables unified liquidity and connectivity across chains with instant cross-chain transactions, shared liquidity aggregation, and near-instant finality through Ethereum-backed security.
• Avail DAcoreTechnology or IntegrationAvail DA integration provides scalable and decentralized data availability layer for Ternoa's Layer 2 network, ensuring transaction data remains verifiable and enabling cost-efficient storage through Data Availability Sampling.
• Intel SGXcoreTechnology or IntegrationIntel SGX (Software Guard Extensions) powers Ternoa's TEE enclaves for secure execution, cryptographic attestation, and decentralized key management. Provides hardware-based isolation for sensitive computations.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Forta Network: Decentralized runtime security and monitoring network for smart contracts. Directly comparable to TIP as both provide continuous threat detection on deployed code rather than one-time audits.
• OpenZeppelin: Smart contract security and operations platform including Defender for runtime monitoring. Overlaps with Ternoa's TIP on continuous security and with CIFER on enterprise-grade crypto tooling.
• Certora: Formal verification and smart contract security tooling for DeFi protocols. Competes with TIP's verification approach and shares the same DeFi security buyer.
• Phala Network: TEE-based confidential computing blockchain using Intel SGX for private smart contract execution. Closest architectural analog to Ternoa's TEE-based security model.
• Tenderly: Smart contract monitoring, debugging, and alerting platform used by DeFi protocols. Comparable on the continuous monitoring and alerting functionality that TIP provides.
• Trail of Bits: Leading smart contract security audit firm now expanding into continuous security tooling and AI-assisted code analysis. Competes head-on with TIP's AI security agents and autonomous pentesting.
• Secret Network: Privacy-preserving smart contract platform using TEE (Intel SGX) for confidential computing. Overlaps with Ternoa on the TEE + confidential compute narrative and on privacy-focused Web3 use cases.
• Oasis Network: Layer 1 blockchain using confidential computing (TEE) for privacy-preserving smart contracts. Comparable architectural choice and similar target use cases in confidential DeFi and data protection.

Broad incumbents

• Polygon Labs: Operator of Polygon CDK and AggLayer — Ternoa's primary infrastructure partner. Adjacent rather than directly competitive, but Polygon zkEVM competes with Ternoa zkEVM+ for the same app-chain deployments.
• Arbitrum (Offchain Labs): Largest optimistic rollup L2 with extensive DeFi ecosystem. Competes with Ternoa zkEVM+ for builders and liquidity, though without a comparable security toolkit layer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ternoa_
• GitHubgithub.com/capsule-corp-ternoa

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

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

Frequently asked questions about Ternoa