Aztec Labs has brought back its privacy-focused payment wallet zk.money on the Aztec Network after a three-year absence. The renewed wallet is self-custodial and conceals balances, payment amounts, and the parties to a transfer from the public ledger. In a Sep. 29 announcement, Aztec Labs said users can access zk.money through the website or a locally run frontend, while a mobile app is planned.
The original zk.money launched in 2021 and served more than 75,000 unique wallets with $100 million in transaction volume before it was retired. The new version lets users send or request funds through readable tags such as bob.zk.money and payment links, using Ethereum Name Service technology that resolves wherever ENS CCIP is supported. Users can deposit DAI, USDC or USDT; USDC and USDT are converted into DAI before private transfers begin.
Aztec Labs framed the launch as a way to avoid publishing financial history onchain. “Onchain transactions between two individuals shouldn’t mean publishing your financial history to the world,” said CEO Joe Andrews. The wallet uses self-custodial wallets and immutable smart contracts with no privileged administrator role that can move or freeze funds. However, Ethereum deposits remain publicly traceable, and entry and exit addresses are screened under a sanctions policy.
The alpha release includes strict limits: each deposit, payment and withdrawal must stay below $2,500, all users share a $50,000 daily deposit allowance that replenishes over time, deposits cost $0.35 plus Ethereum fees, withdrawals cost $0.20, and users receive 100 sponsored transactions per day. Aztec Labs noted the software has not been fully audited and remains experimental. The relaunch follows Aztec v5’s introduction of private smart contracts on Ethereum and separate security investigations involving older, deprecated Aztec products that the company said did not affect the current network.
