Aztec raised $59 million through a token sale with Uniswap's Community Commitment Architecture. The funding aims to advance Aztec's research and development of privacy technologies. Continue Reading:Aztec Secures $59 Million in Token Sale Collaboration The post Aztec Secures $59 ...

Aztec launches decentralized and private Ethereum L2 on mainnet, almost. Aztec launched its Ignition mainnet with no centralized operators, opening community staking amid its major token sale and positioning itself as a fully decentralized L2. Ethereum layer-2 network Aztec launched its mainnet Wednesday - albeit with partial functionality - marking the launch of one of the few fully decentralized networks in the ecosystem. According to an Aztec email viewed by Cointelegraph, Aztec has launched its "Ignition" mainnet chain, a functional consensus-producing chain that generates blocks, but without the smart contract execution layer. According to L2Beat, only the trustless, optimistic rollup network Facet v1 and Aztec's old decentralized finance (DeFi) anonymization project, Zk.Money are classed as a stage 2 system with full decentralization. Together with Facet, Aztec is among the few protocols with no centralized "training wheels," as ownership of the rollup contract was renounced, and Aztec is neither a rollup processor nor an operator. Users or third parties must run the rollup system themselves to withdraw or transact. In an email sent to the Aztec mailing list subscribers, the Aztec team highlighted that "neither the Aztec Foundation, core team, nor investors can run nodes, stake, or participate in governance for the next 12 months." "This makes Aztec the first community-launched L2 in Ethereum history," the team told subscribers. Aztec had not responded to Cointelegraph's request for comment by publication. Aztec staking is now live. Aztec staking is now available to holders, allowing them to participate in network consensus, earn block rewards and shape governance decisions. The email suggests that early stakeholders receive higher rewards because "early participants benefit from distributing block rewards amongst fewer stakers." The staking dashboard indicates that 107.2 million AZTEC tokens are currently staked. Both the investors and the development team are currently barred from staking, so it is likely that those funds are sourced from the 200 million AZTEC sold in the genesis sequencer sale, which targets whitelisted community members explicitly to bootstrap the mainnet. The minimum stake amount (also applicable to delegated stakes) is 200,000 AZTEC, equivalent to about $6,000 at the prices of the ongoing community-only Continuous Clearing Auctions phase. Still, the tokens may be sold at higher prices than the current $0.03 per AZTEC if demand increases. The ongoing token sale. Aztec is currently in the whitelisted community members-only phase of its token sale, attracting $2.77 million worth of assets from 2,209 unique bidders since its opening on Nov. 13. This phase will close on Dec. 1, just before the public sale starts on Dec. 2 and closes on Dec. 6. The tokens purchased through the sale will be locked for a minimum of 90 days and up to 12 months, depending on whether the community votes to release them early. The sale will distribute 1.547 billion tokens, representing 14.95% of the total supply. Aztec claims that the token sale is taking place at a 75% discount relative to the implied network valuation from previous fundraising efforts. According to ICO Drops data, Aztec raised $2.1 million in its seed round, $17 million in its Series A, and $100 million in its Series B funding rounds. Backers include Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Coinbase Ventures, Paradigm, Consensys, Andreessen Horowitz and HashKey Capital, among others. Still, Aztec's own token sale disclaimer warns that "any reference to a prior valuation or percentage discount is provided solely to inform potential purchasers of how the initial floor price for the token sale was calculated." The floor price currently stands at 0.000010 ETH, or about $0.03 per AZTEC - putting the project at a fully diluted valuation of $310 million. The disclaimer also notes that unsold tokens "may be claimed back by the Foundation." On Dec. 6, a Uniswap pool containing 273 million AZTEC (2.64% of supply) will go live to bootstrap liquidity. Tokens bought on the secondary market will not be subject to lockups.

Ignition Chain goes live: Aztec Network introduces privacy-focused Ethereum Layer 2. * F. Bustos * Published: November 20, 2025 * 12:55 pm * Updated: November 20, 2025 * 1:19 pm Home - flash news - Ignition Chain goes live: Aztec Network introduces privacy-focused Ethereum Layer 2. Aztec Network announced the launch of Ignition Chain, its new privacy-focused Layer 2 on Ethereum, according to an official statement shared on X. The team confirmed that the protocol is now operating with a fully decentralized consensus layer on the Ethereum mainnet, marking a key milestone for on-chain privacy infrastructure. The network uses zero-knowledge cryptography (ZK) to process transactions without exposing sensitive data, aiming to enable private DeFi activity while maintaining Ethereum-level security. The deployment is expected to benefit developers, institutions and users seeking lower fees with built-in confidentiality, a feature still limited across most existing Layer 2 solutions. The initiative also signals growing demand for privacy-centric scaling tools as regulatory scrutiny increases worldwide. Aztec stated that the next phase will include performance audits on validators and the rollout of additional developer tools. The project also plans to expand access to new node operators through a public staking program, gradually opening participation to third-party validators. Disclaimer: Crypto Economy Flash News are based on verified public and official sources. Their purpose is to provide fast, factual updates about relevant events in the crypto and blockchain ecosystem. This information does not constitute financial advice or investment recommendation. Readers are encouraged to verify all details through official project channels before making any related decisions.