With these funds, Aztec Network aims to hire more engineers and build a new encrypted blockchain. The private layer-2 chain Aztec Network announced on December 15 a $100 million Series B funding round led by venture capital company a16z crypto. The other investors in this round include Variant, SV Angel, A Capital, King River, Hash Key, Fenbushu, and AVG.
By partnering with a16z, the firm wants to hire new engineers and develop a “next-generation encrypted architecture” that enables users to authenticate that blockchain rules were followed without revealing any other underlying information. Encrypted blockchains enable users to transact with privacy and anonymity.
Aztec CEO Zac Williamson said in an official announcement:
“What we’re building is a revolutionary piece of technology that transforms how we interact with each other online, in which the end user is the customer, rather than the product. End-to-end encrypted blockchains protect individuals, obviating the need for centralized financial systems.”
Aztec is allegedly working on a testnet launch within 12 months and in a full deployment on the mainnet within 24 months.
Based on the statement by the firm, its cryptography has been tested in production with Aztec Connect, enabling decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to integrate privacy in several hundreds of transactions. Aztec Connect’s ecosystem includes Ethereum DeFi protocols like Element, Set Protocol, Aave, Curve, Lido, Compound, and Liquity.
Buy Bitcoin NowThe firm is also developing a public-private execution layer for its blockchain, which is perfectly designed to integrate encrypted and unencrypted applications smoothly. Aztec’s co-founder Joe Andrews stated:
“From PGP and SSL to end-to-end encrypted messaging, we rely on encryption in our daily lives for businesses and commerce to thrive. With a16z we are standing on the shoulders of giants to bring the encryption we have enjoyed since Netscape to our digital Web3.0 lives. We couldn’t think of a better partner to help us scale Aztec to the mainstream.”
Aztec’s privacy network was officially launched on the Ethereum blockchain in February 2020. With Zcash-based technology, it offered confidential tokens where amounts were cryptographically hidden.
