From the end of zk.money to the rise of public testing, Aztec's new path to privacy.

Original | Odaily Daily Report (@OdailyChina)

Author | Dingdang (@XiaMiPP)

On May 2, Aztec, a privacy and scalability solution based on ZK Rollup, announced the official launch of its public testnet. This network utilizes zero-knowledge proof technology, aiming to achieve efficient privacy transactions and provide DApp developers with a secure, anonymous decentralized application development environment, marking a key step for Aztec in the Ethereum privacy ecosystem.

Subsequently, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik actively interacted with Aztec on the X platform, stating: "Privacy has always been the real Alpha." This statement not only represents a high recognition of Aztec's technology but also continues his five-year friendship with Aztec, adding significant endorsement for the public testnet launch.

Vitalik and Aztec: Technical Co-creation and Ideological Resonance

Vitalik's connection with Aztec dates back to 2020. At that time, he joined Aztec's "AZTEC CRS" (trusted setup ceremony) as the first participant (Participant #0), laying the foundation of trust for the zero-knowledge proof system. Vitalik not only participated personally but also developed a Python implementation to run the ceremony, demonstrating a strong interest in Aztec technology. In March of the same year, he praised Aztec's "ZK ZK Rollup" innovation on platform X, believing that its design, which integrates privacy protection and Layer 2 scalability, is a significant breakthrough for the Ethereum ecosystem.

In October 2021, Vitalik further participated as a personal investor in Aztec Labs' $17 million Series A funding round, collaborating with top institutions such as a16z and Paradigm to inject strong capital momentum into the project. In April 2025, Vitalik released the Ethereum privacy roadmap, emphasizing the importance of private payments and anonymous on-chain activities, which aligns closely with projects like Aztec's StealthNote (an anonymous reporting platform).

Technical Core: PLONK Leads the Privacy Track

Aztec, developed by Aztec Labs and established in 2018, brings together top talent from leading organizations in the crypto space, such as the Ethereum Foundation and ConsenSys. Its technological core lies in a privacy-first ZK-Rollup architecture, which achieves data encryption through zero-knowledge proofs, ensuring not only transaction privacy but also reducing Gas fees to 1/80 to 1/100 of traditional Ethereum transactions. Additionally, Aztec has launched the Noir programming language, significantly simplifying the development process for privacy smart contracts and providing DApp developers with an intuitive and powerful tool.

Among technological innovations, Aztec's original PLONK proof system stands out. As an efficient and flexible zero-knowledge proof protocol, PLONK not only supports Aztec's privacy transactions due to its superior computing performance and versatility, but is also widely adopted by mainstream ZK projects such as StarkNet and zkSync, becoming a benchmark technology in the privacy track. Compared with traditional ZK-SNARKs, PLONK's breakthrough in computing efficiency and developer-friendliness significantly lowers the threshold for the development of privacy applications, opening up a new path for the privacy expansion of the Ethereum ecosystem. PLONK's Trusted Setup, with the participation of community leaders such as Vitalik Buterin, has further strengthened its security and credibility, making it known as the "technical cornerstone" of the privacy track, far more influential than the Aztec project itself. **

Note: Trusted setup, as an inherent "backdoor" in zero-knowledge proof schemes, has always been a focus of technical optimization. Traditional trusted setups rely on multiple parties to generate keys, and improper setup can compromise system security. Aztec has significantly optimized this process through the innovative design of PLONK, allowing a universal trusted setup to support multiple circuits, reducing the reliance on repeated ceremonies, and greatly enhancing efficiency and security.

Shutdown Turmoil: A Sudden Strategic Shift

Since its establishment, Aztec has completed a total of four rounds of financing, with the Series B round raising 100 million USD, bringing the total financing amount to as high as 119 million USD. Three months later, on March 13, 2023, while the success of the financing was still fresh, Aztec suddenly announced that it would gradually shut down the privacy bridge Aztec Connect and disable the deposit functions of front-end applications such as zk.money, allowing users to withdraw funds for free within a year. In May 2024, Aztec officially relinquished ownership of zk.money.

At that time, the privacy transfer protocols zk.money and the privacy bridge Aztec Connect were two flagship products launched by Aztec. With zk.money and Aztec Connect, users can transfer funds freely without exposing their personal information (addresses, funds, etc.) and securely access multiple mainstream DeFi protocols such as Lido, Element, Aave, Compound, and Uniswap, attracting over 100,000 interactive users.

The sudden release of the shutdown announcement caught many users off guard and sparked intense discussions within the crypto community. While some are exploring the reasons behind Aztec's transformation, speculating that regulatory pressure is the main factor behind it, Aztec's officials have denied this claim, emphasizing that it is a strategic adjustment based on business considerations. Analysis shows that Aztec may indeed hope to focus its resources on directions with more long-term value—building a full-stack privacy solution rather than being limited to DeFi bridging services. In August 2024, Aztec launched Devnet and initiated an early developer incentive program to attract developers to deploy privacy applications, demonstrating its determination to transition to a broader ecosystem.

However, broader discussions are still focused on the "Wool Party". As a star project in the ZK track, coupled with the backing of top crypto capital such as a16z and Paradigm, Aztec was once a hot target for airdrop expectations. Users paid high Ethereum gas fees to participate in interactions (at that time, the cost of a single transaction sometimes soared to tens or even hundreds of dollars). Many users believe that with the shutdown of zk.money and Aztec Connect, the interaction costs they incurred in anticipation of the project’s airdrop will be in vain. Indeed, although Aztec thanked the community for their support in the announcement, it did not clarify how to quantify user contributions.

Now, the Aztec Network public testnet is online, providing developers with an ideal platform to test the Noir programming language and privacy features, helping to build secure and anonymous DApps. Aztec has also launched a $150,000 grant program to encourage developers to explore interoperability with other Layer 2 networks, demonstrating a commitment to an open ecosystem. Currently, the public testnet mainly targets technical developers, and ordinary users do not have direct participation opportunities, but following Aztec's X account, Discord community, and official website is the best way to get the latest updates.

For community users, whether Aztec can convert the contributions of early users (such as zk.money and Aztec Connect interactors) into actual incentives remains a core concern. Although the officials have not yet made a clear response, the launch of the public test network undoubtedly injects new momentum into Aztec's decentralized vision and adds infinite possibilities to the future of the Ethereum privacy ecosystem.