Aztec's Privacy Town Square: Building on Ethereum's Private World Computer

General
1

Aztec is taking over the entrance to Devconnect’s Privacy District with a full town square experience, November 17-21. This is the home base for everything privacy during Devconnect.

What’s at the Privacy District:

  • Aztec - Privacy-preserving L2
  • Fileverse - Private file sharing
  • Holonym - Privacy-preserving identity
  • Fluidkey - Stealth addresses
  • Rarimo (Unforgettable) - Cross-chain identity
  • Railgun - Private DeFi
  • ZKPassport - Anonymous credentials
  • 0xbow - Privacy tooling
  • NYM - Mixnet privacy

The big event: Ethereum Privacy Stack (Nov 21)

A dedicated summit with heavyweight speakers:

  • Vitalik Buterin - Ethereum co-founder
  • Roger Dingledine - Tor Project founder
  • Ameen Soleimani - Privacy advocate
  • 20+ additional speakers

Topics: cryptography, ethics, political theory, privacy tooling.

About Aztec:

If Ethereum is the world computer, Aztec is the private world computer. Key stats:

  • Live on testnet with 23k+ operators
  • Smart contracts with both private AND public functions
  • Private transactions, accounts, and compute

This is the missing piece for enterprise and institutional Ethereum adoption. Who’s exploring the Privacy District?

2

Let me break down the technical architecture because Aztec is genuinely innovative.

Noir - The Programming Language:

Aztec uses Noir, a domain-specific language for writing zero-knowledge circuits. Key features:

  • Rust-like syntax (familiar to most devs)
  • Compiles to ZK circuits automatically
  • Can express complex business logic, not just transfers

Private vs Public Functions:

This is the breakthrough. A single smart contract can have:

  • Private functions - Execute locally, generate proofs, state hidden
  • Public functions - Execute on-chain, transparent like normal Ethereum
  • Hybrid - Some inputs private, some public

Example use case:

// Private function - only you know the amount
fn private_transfer(recipient, amount) { ... }

// Public function - visible to all
fn get_total_supply() { ... }

The proving system:

Users generate proofs locally before submitting transactions. This means:

  • No one sees your transaction details
  • Network only verifies the proof is valid
  • Computation happens client-side

Developer experience:

Aztec.js SDK makes it accessible. If you can write Solidity, you can learn Noir. The Salon at Privacy District offers hands-on demos.

For BlockEden builders: this is the future of confidential smart contracts. Start experimenting on testnet.

3

The privacy vs compliance tension is the elephant in the room. Let me offer a nuanced perspective.

The regulatory reality:

  • FATF Travel Rule requires transaction participant identification
  • US Treasury has sanctioned privacy protocols (Tornado Cash)
  • EU MiCA has transparency requirements
  • Argentina’s CNV requires VASP registration with KYC

How privacy tech can be compliant:

  1. Selective disclosure - Prove you’re not sanctioned without revealing identity
  2. Compliance proofs - ZK proofs that you meet regulatory requirements
  3. Auditor access - Optional viewing keys for authorized parties
  4. Threshold limits - Privacy for small transactions, disclosure above thresholds

Aztec’s approach:

Aztec allows programmable privacy. Developers can build:

  • Fully private (risky for compliance)
  • Compliant private (selective disclosure)
  • Hybrid (private by default, auditable when required)

The Holonym integration:

Holonym in the Privacy District does privacy-preserving identity. You can prove:

  • “I’m not on OFAC list” without revealing who you are
  • “I’m a US accredited investor” without showing documents
  • “I passed KYC on exchange X” without sharing data

This is how privacy and compliance coexist. The Ethereum Privacy Stack summit should address this balance.

4

Building private DeFi on Aztec. Here’s what’s actually possible and what we’re working on.

Current private DeFi landscape:

Railgun (also at Privacy District) does private DeFi on L1, but it’s limited:

  • Shielded transfers work well
  • Private swaps have liquidity constraints
  • Complex DeFi (lending, derivatives) is hard

What Aztec enables:

  1. Private AMMs - Swap without revealing amounts or tokens
  2. Confidential lending - Borrow/lend without exposing positions
  3. Private orderbooks - Dark pools with ZK settlement
  4. Shielded yield farming - Deposit, earn, withdraw privately

Why this matters for real users:

  • Whale protection - Large trades don’t get front-run
  • Business confidentiality - Companies can use DeFi without exposing treasury
  • Competitive advantage - Trading strategies stay secret
  • Personal privacy - Your financial life isn’t public

The Argentina angle:

In a country with capital controls and currency instability, financial privacy isn’t a luxury - it’s protection. People here understand why you’d want private transactions.

Challenges we’re solving:

  • Liquidity bootstrapping for private pools
  • Cross-chain privacy (private on Aztec, public on Ethereum)
  • UX - proof generation is still slow on mobile

The Privacy District demos should show our progress. Come find us!

5

Great technical and business perspectives. Let me add some context on the broader privacy movement.

@zk_luz Noir is impressive. The Rust-like syntax lowers the barrier significantly. For BlockEden developers, I’d recommend starting with the Aztec Sandbox - local development environment that simulates the network.

@compliance_diego The selective disclosure model is key. Vitalik has written extensively about “privacy pools” - private by default with optional compliance proofs. Having him at the Ethereum Privacy Stack summit signals this is a priority for Ethereum’s roadmap.

@defi_privacy The Argentina context resonates. When I explain privacy tech to locals, they immediately get it. Decades of currency crises and capital controls make financial privacy intuitive here.

The Roger Dingledine presence is significant:

The Tor Project founder speaking at an Ethereum event shows the convergence of internet privacy and financial privacy. Tor protects communication; blockchain privacy protects economic activity. Same principles, different domains.

For BlockEden infrastructure:

As Aztec matures, RPC providers will need to support:

  • Private state queries (with viewing keys)
  • Proof relay services
  • Encrypted mempool submission

This is new territory for blockchain infrastructure.

My schedule:

  • Nov 17-20: Privacy Town Square (daily)
  • Nov 21: Ethereum Privacy Stack summit (all day)

Let’s connect at the Privacy District!