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Aztec Relaunches zk.money Privacy Wallet on Ethereum Layer 2
Private payments return with transaction limits, Alpha-stage safeguards and a rebuilt network
TL;DR
- Aztec Labs relaunched zk.money on September 29, 2026, bringing its self-custodial private payments wallet back on Aztec Network after a multi-year shutdown.
- The wallet hides balances, payment amounts and counterparties inside Aztec Network, while Ethereum deposits can still expose the sender and amount.
- zk.money returns with strict transaction limits as Aztec Network remains in Alpha and a previously disclosed proof-system flaw awaits a later fix.
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Aztec Labs relaunched zk.money on September 29, 2026, bringing its self-custodial privacy wallet back on Aztec Network, its privacy-focused Ethereum Layer 2. The rebuilt wallet lets users make payments without publicly exposing balances, payment amounts or counterparties once funds are inside the network, while Ethereum deposits remain partly visible.
Aztec Labs CEO Joe Andrews said the product is designed around financial confidentiality. “Onchain transactions between two individuals shouldn't mean publishing your financial history to the world,” Andrews said. “zk.money is a self-custodial crypto wallet where your financial history stays yours.”
Users can send or request money through readable zk.money handles, such as bob.zk.money, or through shareable payment links. The handles use Ethereum Name Service technology and can work with applications that support ENS. Users can also control who is allowed to interact with their handles and can send funds from Ethereum-based exchanges directly to a zk.money handle.
The wallet supports DAI, USDC and USDT deposits from Ethereum, but USDC and USDT are converted into DAI when deposited, leaving DAI as the currency used inside zk.money. Andrews said Aztec selected DAI because it is “the most decentralized of the mass-market stablecoins used today on Ethereum.” Additional assets could be supported later.
Privacy does not extend backward to the Ethereum deposit itself. A deposit can reveal the Ethereum sender and amount on the public chain, although the recipient on Aztec can remain private. Subsequent balances and payments inside zk.money are designed to keep equivalent transaction details from appearing publicly.
Alpha launch comes with strict limits and security warnings
Aztec has imposed tight operating limits while the system remains new. Every deposit, payment and withdrawal must stay below the product-level cap shown below, while all users share a network-wide daily deposit allowance.
The shared allowance replenishes over time. Aztec's documentation describes the limits as a safeguard while the system is new and says raising them would require a new contract. “The limits are in place as the system is new, experimental cryptography,” Andrews said. Aztec plans to increase them as confidence grows and a later version becomes available.
Sponsored payments depend on a fee-paying contract having enough funds to cover network costs, meaning a payment may have to wait if that contract runs out of funds or cannot cover prevailing fees. Ethereum addresses used for deposits and withdrawals are also screened under a sanctions policy.
zk.money remains self-custodial, and Aztec Labs said it cannot spend, move or freeze user funds. A sealed server co-signs operations inside the wallet, but the server cannot independently spend those funds. Users can access zk.money through a web interface or run the software locally.
Aztec Network itself remains in an early Alpha phase. Its software has not been fully audited, and Aztec's documentation warns that critical bugs are possible. Contributors disclosed a critical flaw in Aztec's V5 proof system in August 2026, with a fix planned for V6.
Andrews said zk.money will launch before that flaw is fixed. A separate system called Oxide will inspect payments for errors caused by network-software bugs, and users are expected to be able to move to the updated network after the fix becomes available.
Two older Aztec smart contracts were exploited in June 2026. Aztec said those contracts belonged to separate products that had been shut down years earlier, were not part of the current Aztec Network and did not affect the new zk.money deployment.
zk.money returns after Aztec rebuilt its privacy infrastructure
The original zk.money launched in 2021 and attracted more than 75,000 unique wallets while processing more than $100 million in transaction volume before being discontinued. The supplied accounts differ on the shutdown date: Andrews said, “We sunset in 2023, not because private payments were a failed thesis, but because they needed infrastructure that did not yet exist,” while another account places the closure in 2024.
Andrews said the earlier architecture was the problem rather than demand. “The system back then was very hard to add features and did not scale globally.”
Aztec then spent the following years developing Aztec Network as a decentralized Layer 2 capable of supporting private applications. The nonprofit Aztec Foundation now oversees the network, while Aztec Labs develops products on top of it.
“Now that the network is live and stewarded via the non-profit Aztec Foundation, our team at Aztec Labs is back shipping open-source privacy products on top of it,” Andrews said.
The network also supports Noir, Aztec's programming language for zero-knowledge applications, which Andrews said gives developers more flexibility to add features than the previous system.
Aztec Labs plans a mobile application for Q4 2026 and is also working toward DeFi integrations on Ethereum during the same quarter. The company was already working with possible DeFi partners but had declined to identify them ahead of future announcements.
The relaunch comes as Ethereum's public roadmap calls for privacy to become a “first-class property” of the network. Ethereum developers are also considering privacy-related changes for the planned 2027 Hegotá upgrade that could help privacy applications manage transaction approvals and fees with less dependence on outside services.
Aztec has raised $125 million to date, including a $100 million Series B in 2022 backed by a16z crypto and Paradigm.
This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.
