Recently, the hottest topic on Twitter and various social media platforms has been the on-chain activities of those "1011 insider addresses" or big players like Yi Lihua. These addresses are under the spotlight, and every move they make sparks heated discussions.
The big players are probably thinking, "How wonderful it would be if blockchain had native privacy features!" Let's talk about @aztecnetwork, a privacy infrastructure project that received $100 million in funding from @a16z:
1) Aztec's recent participation in Uniswap's new token issuance mechanism, CCA (Continuous Clearing Auction), also validates its ability to attract investment and attention. Simply put, Aztec positions itself as a privacy-first Layer 2 network on Ethereum.
It's not content with just being a faster Ethereum; it wants to be the "SSL layer of the blockchain." Now it seems the positioning of Layer 2 networks will likely be adjusted, ultimately leading to a specific chain providing system privacy solutions.
2) So, how does Aztec's privacy solution differ from familiar projects like @Zcash and Tornado Cash? A key characteristic is that most early privacy projects took extreme approaches, either encrypting all information or using a hybrid approach like dark pools, thus carrying some regulatory risks.
Aztec's logic is to not force all information to be anonymous, but instead use a hybrid state model that supports both "public state" and "private state" within a single smart contract. This is like entering a high-end club; everyone in the lobby can see you drinking (public state), but your specific booth and bill are known only to you and the cashier (private state).
This design allows DeFi protocols to maintain the transparency of liquidity (e.g., how much money is in the pool) while making user holdings and strategies visible only to themselves.
3) In terms of technical details, Aztec insists on a client-side proof mechanism, which is a key competitive advantage. In other layer 2 frameworks, users initiate transactions, nodes execute them, and then prove the execution was successful. But Aztec believes this is not secure enough.
Aztec requires that transaction execution and ZK Proof generation be completed directly on the user's own device (PXE environment), supported by the meticulously crafted Noir programming language and PLONK proof system. This ensures that sensitive data never leaves the user's phone or computer, directly eliminating the possibility of data leakage at the physical isolation level.
4) Why is it said that only when "privacy" possesses programmable attributes will many commercial possibilities truly be unlocked? It's quite easy to understand:
1. Institutional-grade DeFi: Wall Street giants can conduct large-scale transactions on-chain without worrying about being targeted by predators in the dark forest;
2. Compliant KYC: Users can prove to the protocol that they are qualified investors without disclosing their original passports or residential addresses;
3. Asymmetric information games: Because fully transparent environments make it impossible to play games like Texas Hold'em or fog of war, which facilitate large-scale user expansion, strong privacy features can help the large-scale adoption of games across the entire chain.
That's all.
To be fair, Aztec isn't alone in the privacy race. There's a long road from discovering its potential to its final application, as privacy technologies often mean higher computational costs and more complex user experiences. Fortunately, under the prevailing trend of "compliance," privacy services have become a rigid infrastructure requirement to meet regulatory demands, and there's no way to circumvent it.
However, I believe the privacy race is inherently a "high-stakes" game, with the basic infrastructure market structure and form largely established. The question now is who can truly break into the finals and popularize a programmable, complex-logic-supporting privacy operating system to the market.
