Programmable privacy solution enables developers to build fully private applications on Ethereum for the first time
LONDON, May 1, 2025 (Bitwire) -- Aztec Network today announced the launch of its Public Testnet, celebrating a pivotal milestone in the company's eight-year journey to solve one of blockchain's biggest challenges: privacy. Open to all developers, Aztec introduces the first fully programmable privacy solution that protects sensitive information while still maintaining blockchain's inherent transparency.
Testnet follows successful testing of the first decentralized upgrade process for an L2, with over 100 sequencers participating in successful deployments of both DevNet and ProverNet. It represents a crucial step forward as Aztec prepares for a mainnet that will launch fully decentralized from day one - because true privacy means no central entity gets backdoor access.
"We currently view blockchain privacy as all-or-nothing, but it doesn't have to be," said Zac Williamson, Co-Founder of Aztec Network. "Developers can use Aztec to build dApps with privacy features that seamlessly blend with Ethereum's existing infrastructure, and they won't need to struggle implementing complex cryptography."
"We first invested in Aztec in 2022 because we shared its vision for making privacy programmable and accessible for any crypto developer," said Ali Yahya, General Partner at a16z crypto. "Privacy is essential for blockchains to gain widespread adoption, enabling many new possibilities for crypto applications in financial services, gaming, identity, AI, and much more. Aztec's testnet launch is a significant step towards building that future."
This is the final step for Aztec following the development of several breakthrough technologies that paved the way to, and now set the stage for, mainnet: PLONK, a novel proving system for user-level privacy and programmability that yielded zk.money and Aztec Connect, which was a pivotal moment for privacy and encryption solutions; Noir, an intuitive zero-knowledge, Rust-like programming language; and a client-side library for a private execution environment (PXE). These tools allow developers to explore privacy-preserving applications across any use case where protecting sensitive data is a critical function.
For more information about Aztec Network and to participate in the Public Testnet, developers can click here . For node operators looking to help run the network, click here .
About Aztec Network
Aztec is the only privacy-first Layer 2 on Ethereum, empowering developers to build applications that protect user privacy while enabling compliance. Backed by a body 00M Series B led by a16z, Aztec is led by a team of world-class researchers and cryptographers who invented trustless client-side proving-the innovation that makes privacy-preserving apps on mobile possible. Using zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) and the Noir open-source, Rust-like programming language, Aztec is building a secure and scalable privacy layer for the decentralized future.
