Aztec Network (AZTEC)

System: Aztec Network — Communications and Privacy Infrastructure

Aztec Network provides programmable transaction and smart-contract privacy for developers, applications and users that need confidential execution and settlement on Ethereum. Founded in 2017 and launched as the current Alpha mainnet in 2026, Aztec uses a privacy-first zero-knowledge rollup architecture with Aztec Virtual Machine, Noir, client-side private execution, decentralised sequencers and provers, Ethereum layer 1 contracts and the AZTEC token.

Market Data

Price$0.020049
Market Cap$59.63M
Fully Diluted Valuation$207.51M
30d Change-10.38%

Token Functionalities

Governance

  • Actor Set Permissioning (Partial)

    Right to influence privileged actor participation and weighting, including sequencer queue configuration, ejection thresholds, slashing configuration and related actor-set controls. This is endogenous Governance with Partial strength because AZTEC voting can affect who may perform privileged protocol roles, while direct actor participation also depends on staking and operational eligibility.

  • Process and Meta Parameter Control (Partial)

    Right to modify governance process settings, including parameters that govern proposal approval, voting thresholds, quorum and execution timing. This is endogenous Governance with Partial strength because AZTEC voting power can affect the rules of decision-making, but those changes remain subject to the broader governance process and participant-based preconditions.

  • Economic Design/Parameter Control (Partial)

    Right to vote on economic design and parameters that affect monetary flows, incentive outcomes and asset balances within Aztec. This includes fee and reward configuration, slashing economics, sequencer queue settings and related incentive controls. This is endogenous Governance with Partial strength because token voting is binding within the governance process, but is subject to participant-based signalling and procedural constraints.

  • Technical Parameter Control (Partial)

    Right to approve technical changes to Aztec’s protocol architecture, including network upgrades and canonical rollup selection. This is endogenous Governance with Partial strength because AZTEC voting can approve binding protocol changes through governance contracts, but the standard path depends on sequencer signalling and execution delays rather than immediate unilateral token-holder execution.

Collateral

  • Performance-Bond

    Right to pledge AZTEC as a slashable performance bond for sequencer and validator behaviour. This is an endogenous Collateral functionality because the stake secures the native Aztec system and can be forfeited for rule-verified misbehaviour, inactivity or invalid attestation behaviour. The collateral role is separate from the service work performed by sequencers.

Service Provision

  • Block/State Attestation

    Right to attest to the validity of proposed blocks or state updates by participating as a staked committee member. The assignment reflects Aztec’s distinct attestation role, not generic validator observation.

  • State Transition Execution and Transaction Sequencing

    Right to order transactions, participate in state-transition execution and propose blocks by staking AZTEC as a sequencer. Rewards are compensation for performing sequencing and block-production work.

Payments

  • Native Resource Fee (Strong)

    Right to consume Aztec transaction processing and mana by paying system-enforced fees in AZTEC. Strength is Strong because AZTEC is the native fee asset for the system’s core transaction resource.

Value Distribution

  • Burn Entitlement (Algorithmic or Guaranteed)

    Right to benefit from increased percentage ownership when Aztec permanently burns part of the transaction-fee flows. Strength is Algorithmic or Guaranteed because the burn is defined as part of the fee-routing mechanism rather than a discretionary distribution.

System Attributes

Operating Model

<p>Aztec&nbsp;is&nbsp;an&nbsp;On-Chain&nbsp;Protocol.&nbsp;The&nbsp;system&nbsp;coordinates&nbsp;open&nbsp;sequencer&nbsp;entry,&nbsp;block&nbsp;production,&nbsp;staking,&nbsp;rewards,&nbsp;penalties&nbsp;and&nbsp;governance&nbsp;through&nbsp;protocol&nbsp;contracts&nbsp;rather&nbsp;than&nbsp;through&nbsp;a&nbsp;privileged&nbsp;central&nbsp;operator.&nbsp;Sequencers&nbsp;join&nbsp;by&nbsp;staking&nbsp;AZTEC,&nbsp;enter&nbsp;protocol-defined&nbsp;queues&nbsp;and&nbsp;participate&nbsp;in&nbsp;block&nbsp;proposal&nbsp;and&nbsp;committee&nbsp;duties.&nbsp;Provers&nbsp;generate&nbsp;rollup&nbsp;proofs,&nbsp;while&nbsp;protocol&nbsp;contracts&nbsp;coordinate&nbsp;settlement,&nbsp;fee&nbsp;routing,&nbsp;rewards&nbsp;and&nbsp;slashing.&nbsp;Off-chain&nbsp;node&nbsp;software,&nbsp;local&nbsp;execution&nbsp;and&nbsp;proving&nbsp;infrastructure&nbsp;are&nbsp;operationally&nbsp;important,&nbsp;but&nbsp;the&nbsp;economically&nbsp;critical&nbsp;coordination,&nbsp;measurement,&nbsp;rewards&nbsp;and&nbsp;penalties&nbsp;for&nbsp;the&nbsp;core&nbsp;service&nbsp;are&nbsp;enforced&nbsp;through&nbsp;the&nbsp;cryptoeconomic&nbsp;system.</p>

Value Creation

<p>Aztec&nbsp;has&nbsp;Hybrid&nbsp;Value&nbsp;Creation.&nbsp;On&nbsp;the&nbsp;off-chain&nbsp;side,&nbsp;users&nbsp;and&nbsp;applications&nbsp;perform&nbsp;private&nbsp;execution&nbsp;locally,&nbsp;generate&nbsp;proofs&nbsp;and&nbsp;interact&nbsp;with&nbsp;node&nbsp;software&nbsp;to&nbsp;prepare&nbsp;confidential&nbsp;transactions.&nbsp;Sequencers&nbsp;and&nbsp;provers&nbsp;also&nbsp;perform&nbsp;off-chain&nbsp;computational&nbsp;work&nbsp;by&nbsp;ordering&nbsp;transactions,&nbsp;producing&nbsp;blocks&nbsp;and&nbsp;generating&nbsp;rollup&nbsp;proofs.&nbsp;On&nbsp;the&nbsp;on-chain&nbsp;side,&nbsp;Aztec&nbsp;contracts&nbsp;coordinate&nbsp;staking,&nbsp;block&nbsp;submission,&nbsp;proof&nbsp;verification,&nbsp;settlement&nbsp;and&nbsp;reward&nbsp;distribution,&nbsp;while&nbsp;Ethereum&nbsp;provides&nbsp;the&nbsp;external&nbsp;settlement&nbsp;and&nbsp;verification&nbsp;environment.&nbsp;The&nbsp;valuable&nbsp;product&nbsp;is&nbsp;therefore&nbsp;not&nbsp;created&nbsp;solely&nbsp;inside&nbsp;contracts&nbsp;or&nbsp;solely&nbsp;by&nbsp;an&nbsp;off-chain&nbsp;business;&nbsp;it&nbsp;depends&nbsp;on&nbsp;the&nbsp;combination&nbsp;of&nbsp;local&nbsp;private&nbsp;execution,&nbsp;independent&nbsp;operator&nbsp;work&nbsp;and&nbsp;on-chain&nbsp;protocol&nbsp;enforcement.</p>

Value Capture

<p>Aztec&nbsp;has&nbsp;On-Chain&nbsp;Value&nbsp;Capture&nbsp;and&nbsp;Routing.&nbsp;Users&nbsp;pay&nbsp;fees&nbsp;in&nbsp;AZTEC&nbsp;to&nbsp;consume&nbsp;Aztec&nbsp;transaction&nbsp;processing&nbsp;and&nbsp;mana,&nbsp;and&nbsp;those&nbsp;flows&nbsp;are&nbsp;handled&nbsp;through&nbsp;protocol-defined&nbsp;fee&nbsp;and&nbsp;bridge&nbsp;mechanisms&nbsp;rather&nbsp;than&nbsp;by&nbsp;an&nbsp;off-chain&nbsp;commercial&nbsp;revenue&nbsp;account.&nbsp;Sequencers&nbsp;and&nbsp;provers&nbsp;receive&nbsp;protocol-routed&nbsp;compensation&nbsp;for&nbsp;block&nbsp;production&nbsp;and&nbsp;proof&nbsp;work,&nbsp;while&nbsp;a&nbsp;congestion-cost&nbsp;portion&nbsp;of&nbsp;transaction&nbsp;fees&nbsp;is&nbsp;burned,&nbsp;permanently&nbsp;removing&nbsp;AZTEC&nbsp;from&nbsp;circulation.&nbsp;Protocol&nbsp;reward&nbsp;and&nbsp;fee&nbsp;flows&nbsp;are&nbsp;routed&nbsp;through&nbsp;deployed&nbsp;contracts&nbsp;such&nbsp;as&nbsp;the&nbsp;Rollup,&nbsp;FeeJuicePortal&nbsp;and&nbsp;RewardDistributor.&nbsp;No&nbsp;material&nbsp;off-chain&nbsp;entity&nbsp;revenue&nbsp;route&nbsp;is&nbsp;included&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;live&nbsp;Alpha&nbsp;classification,&nbsp;so&nbsp;value&nbsp;capture&nbsp;and&nbsp;routing&nbsp;are&nbsp;classified&nbsp;as&nbsp;on-chain.</p>