After three years, Aztec Labs has relaunched its privacy wallet zk.money.

Aztec Labs Relaunches zk. money Privacy Wallet Three Years After Closure

Aztec Labs has brought back zk. money, a privacy wallet that had been offline for three years. The new version runs on Aztec Network, a privacy-focused Ethereum Layer 2, and uses a self-custody model. User balances, payment amounts and counterparty information are not exposed on public ledgers.

Privacy and control for users

The wallet is non-custodial. Aztec says the company cannot use, move or freeze user funds. Users can register Ethereum Name Service names such as bob. zk. money, send and receive payments through links, and transfer funds directly from Ethereum-based exchanges to zk. money names. The design places the wallet on the Aztec Network rather than the older infrastructure used before shutdown.

History behind the return

The original zk. money launched in 2021 and closed in 2023 because its underlying architecture was difficult to scale. During that earlier period, the product covered more than 75,000 unique wallets and processed more than $100 million in transaction volume. The relaunched wallet is presented as a rebuilt product tied to the current Aztec Network.

Next steps and security context

Aztec plans to connect Ethereum DeFi protocols in the fourth quarter and to release a mobile application. The relaunch also comes after two old Aztec contracts were attacked in June. The company said those contracts are unrelated to the current Aztec Network and to the new zk. money product.