ZAMA Mainnet Approaching Analysis: Can the Privacy Layer Ignite the Industry?
TL;DR
ZAMA's actual total funding is $130 million (not $150 million), having completed a unicorn-level Series B funding round. Its FHE technology has performed strongly on the testnet, generating significant community interest, and the mainnet is expected to launch in Q4 2025. The privacy sector is currently experiencing a recovery, with a market capitalization of $18.8 billion, but whether ZAMA can ignite the sector depends on mainnet technology performance and developer adoption.
Core Analysis
Clarification of Financing Situation
Actual funding figures : ZAMA raised a total of $130 million , not the rumored $150 million. zama.ai tracxn
| Rounds | Amount | lead investor | time | Valuation status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Series B | $57 million | Pantera Capital, Blockchange Ventures | June 2025 | Unicorns ($1 billion) |
| Series A | $73 million | Multicoin Capital, Protocol Labs | March 2024 | not disclosed |
Notable investors include 16 individuals such as Anatoly Yakovenko, founder of Solana; Gavin Wood, founder of Polkadot; and Juan Benet, founder of Filecoin.
Technology Progress and Mainnet Timeline
Current status (as of November 28, 2025, UTC):
- Testnet performance : Processed over 1.2 million crypto transactions on the Ethereum Sepolia testnet, supporting 19,000+ dApps and users.
- Mainnet Plans : The beta version of the Ethereum mainnet is "coming soon" in Q4 2025, confirmed by CEO Rand Hindi.
- Multi-chain expansion : Support for EVM L1/L2 (such as Polygon) in H1 2026; integration with Solana in H2 2026.
Core technological advantages :
- Fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) : Allows on-chain computation without decrypting data.
- FHEVM : A cryptographic virtual machine compatible with Solidity
- Performance metrics : Currently 20 TPS/chain, target of 1,000 TPS by 2026, and long-term goal of 10,000+ TPS through FHE ASIC.
Analysis of the current state of the privacy sector
Market size :
- Privacy coin total market capitalization : $18.8 billion (24-hour decrease of 3.9%, but a significant rebound from the low point) coingecko
- Leading projects : Zcash ($7.76 billion, 41%), Monero ($7.66 billion, 41%), Dash ($738 million, 4%)
- Privacy TVL : Privacy TVL reaches a record high of $1.4 billion (a 56,000% increase from 2019).
Track popularity index :
| Project Type | Market capitalization/TVL | Recent performance | technical route |
|---|---|---|---|
| Privacy Coin | $18.8 billion | ZEC +48% (30 days) | zk-SNARKs, Ring signature |
| Privacy Policy | $1.4 billion TVL | ATH level | zk-rollups, coin mixers |
| Institutional Privacy Chain | Canton $3.1 billion | Emerging track | Programmable privacy |
Regulatory challenges : In 2024, more than 60 projects were delisted from exchanges, and the EU MiCA regulations will ban anonymous coins in 2027, but "compliant privacy" models (such as Zcash's optional transparency) are gaining more support.
Social sentiment analysis
Community engagement : The X platform showed overwhelmingly positive sentiment towards discussions about ZAMA and FHE, with key KOL opinions as follows:
Understanding of technological advantages :
- @alphabatcher emphasized that the testnet traction proved the demand, and actual integration showed that FHEVM was transitioning from experimental to production-ready . x.com
- @morpher_eth provides a detailed analysis of ZAMA's modular design, praising its ability to scale across L1/L2. (x.com)
- @SZYCrypto views FHE as a "hidden force," believing that the mainnet will usher in an era of "true confidential finance." x.com
Mainnet Expectations : The community views the mainnet as a "haven" for realizing privacy dreams, and it is expected to trigger an explosion of ecosystem applications such as private ownership options and MPC wallets.
Adoption potential : ZAMA is widely believed to accelerate FHE adoption by attracting institutions that are cautious about public ledgers by addressing core privacy flaws in blockchains, such as wallet history exposed in DeFi.
On-chain activities and integration
Testnet data :
- Transaction volume : 1.2 million+ crypto transactions processed as of November 14
- Number of dApps : 19,000+ apps and users
- Performance : FHE calculation < 5 seconds transaction time
Key integration :
| project | state | Expected time | Influence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shibarium Privacy Upgrade | Under development | 2026 H1 | Transformation into FHE Privacy Chain |
| Zaiffer Protocol | The mainnet is now live. | November 2025 | Confidential DeFi Tokens |
| OpenZeppelin Standard | In cooperation | Q1 2026 | ERC-7984 Security Token Standard |
Developers are rewarded with a monthly developer reward program of $10,000, with a cumulative reward of $40,000+ awarded to 20+ projects, including applications such as confidential AMM, prediction markets, and payroll streams.
in conclusion
ZAMA possesses the technological foundation and market opportunity to ignite the privacy sector. Its FHE technology addresses the fundamental issue of blockchain privacy, demonstrating strong performance on its testnet and generating high community enthusiasm. The privacy sector is currently in a recovery phase ($18.8 billion market capitalization), and the regulatory environment is trending towards a "compliant privacy" model.
Key success factors :
- The mainnet went live on schedule and maintained stable performance.
- Rapidly building the developer ecosystem (currently displaying requirements to 19,000+ testnet users).
- Institutional-level application scenarios (RWA, compliant DeFi, etc.)
Risk factors :
- Technical complexity may affect the speed of developer adoption.
- Regulatory uncertainty remains.
- Competitors (such as Starknet and Aztec) are also making efforts at the same time.
Overall, ZAMA is expected to become a major driver of privacy infrastructure, but whether it can "ignite" the entire sector depends on the performance of the mainnet and the speed of ecosystem development.