Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)
On May 2, the privacy and scalability solution Aztec, 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 a secure, anonymous decentralized application development environment for DApp developers, marking a key step for Aztec in the Ethereum privacy ecosystem.
Subsequently, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik actively interacted with Aztec on the X platform: "Privacy has always been the real Alpha." This statement not only highly recognizes Aztec's technology but also continues his five-year communication friendship with Aztec, adding heavyweight endorsement to 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 trust foundation 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's technology. In March of the same year, he praised Aztec's "ZK ZK Rollup" innovation on the X platform, 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 financing, joining top institutions like a16z and Paradigm to inject strong capital momentum into the project. In April 2025, Vitalik released the Ethereum privacy roadmap, emphasizing the importance of privacy payments and anonymous on-chain activities, which aligns closely with Aztec's StealthNote (anonymous reporting platform) and other projects.
Technical Core: PLONK Leading the Privacy Track
Aztec, developed by Aztec Labs, was founded in 2018, and its core team consists of top talents from pioneering organizations in the crypto space, such as the Ethereum Foundation and ConsenSys. Its technical core lies in a privacy-first ZK-Rollup architecture, which achieves data encryption through zero-knowledge proofs, ensuring transaction privacy while 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 of privacy smart contracts, providing DApp developers with intuitive and powerful tools.
Among its technological innovations, Aztec's original PLONK proof system stands out. As an efficient and flexible zero-knowledge proof protocol, PLONK, with its superior computational performance and versatility, not only supports Aztec's privacy transactions but is also widely adopted by mainstream ZK projects like StarkNet and zkSync, becoming a benchmark technology in the privacy track. Compared to traditional ZK-SNARKs, PLONK's breakthroughs in computational efficiency and developer-friendliness significantly lower the development threshold for privacy applications, paving a new path for privacy expansion in the Ethereum ecosystem. The general trusted setup of PLONK, participated in by community leaders like Vitalik Buterin, further solidifies its security and credibility, earning it the title of "technical cornerstone" of the privacy track, with influence far exceeding the Aztec project itself.
Note: The 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 if not set up properly, may compromise system security. Aztec significantly optimizes this aspect through PLONK's innovative design, allowing a single setup to support multiple circuits, reducing reliance on repeated ceremonies, and greatly enhancing efficiency and security.
Shutdown Controversy: A Sudden Strategic Shift
Since its establishment, Aztec has undergone four rounds of financing, with the Series B round raising $100 million, bringing the total financing amount to $119 million. However, just three months later, on March 13, 2023, while the warmth of successful financing had not yet dissipated, Aztec suddenly announced it would gradually shut down the privacy bridge Aztec Connect and disable the funding deposit functions of zk.money and other front-end applications, allowing users to withdraw funds for free within a year. By May 2024, Aztec officially relinquished ownership of zk.money.
At that time, the privacy transfer protocol zk.money and the privacy bridge Aztec Connect were two flagship products launched by Aztec. With zk.money and Aztec Connect, users could transfer funds freely without exposing their information (addresses, funds, etc.) and safely access multiple mainstream DeFi protocols like Lido, Element, Aave, Compound, and Uniswap, attracting over 100,000 interactive users.
The sudden announcement of the shutdown caught many users off guard, sparking intense discussions within the crypto community. While some speculated that regulatory pressure was the underlying reason for Aztec's transformation, Aztec officials denied this claim, emphasizing that it was a strategic adjustment based on commercial considerations. Analysis suggests that Aztec may indeed hope to concentrate 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 still focused on the "whale party." As a star project in the ZK track, coupled with backing from top crypto capital like a16z and Paradigm, Aztec was once a hot target for airdrop expectations, with users paying high Ethereum gas fees (sometimes reaching dozens or even hundreds of dollars per transaction) to participate in interactions. Many users felt that with the shutdown of zk.money and Aztec Connect, the interaction costs they incurred in anticipation of the project's airdrop would go to waste. Indeed, although Aztec thanked the community for its support in the announcement, it did not clarify how to quantify user contributions.
Now, with the launch of the Aztec Network public testnet, developers are provided with an ideal platform to test the Noir programming language and privacy features, aiding in the construction of secure, anonymous DApps. Aztec has simultaneously launched a $150,000 funding program to encourage developers to explore interoperability with other Layer 2 networks, showcasing its commitment to an open ecosystem. Currently, the public testnet is primarily aimed at technical developers, with ordinary users having no 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 those interacting with zk.money and Aztec Connect) into actual incentives remains a core concern. Although the official response has not yet been clarified, the launch of the public testnet undoubtedly injects new momentum into Aztec's decentralized vision and adds infinite possibilities for the future of the Ethereum privacy ecosystem.
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