Aztec Network Launches $AZTEC Token Sale: Auction Details with $350M FDV

Aztec Network, a private Layer-2 for Ethereum, officially announced the launch of its $AZTEC token sale through an on-chain auction hosted on Uniswap.This sale is positioned as fair and community-oriented, without airdrops or hidden allocations, emphasizing real-time price discovery.

Key Sale Details

The sale will take place on the Ethereum network, with payments in ETH. The initial fully diluted valuation (FDV) is $350 million, representing about a 75% discount from the network's last implied valuation based on equity funding.The auction uses a Continuous Clearing Auction (CCA) mechanism, developed in collaboration with Uniswap, which clears bids every few blocks to avoid gas wars and sniping.

Estimates suggest the sale could raise around $46-52 million, corresponding to roughly 13-15% of the total token supply, though exact figures are not disclosed.Tokens from the sale will be available for withdrawal and staking immediately after the public auction concludes on December 6.

Timeline and Registration

• Registration and bidding for early contributors (including testnet operators, Aztec Connect users, Ethereum solo stakers, etc.) started on November 13 at 15:00 CET.
• The public auction will run from December 2 to 6, 2025.
• To participate, connect a wallet on Aztec, mint a soulbound NFT for verification, and pass sanctions checks using ZK-proofs (without compromising privacy).

Over 300,000 addresses are whitelisted, including contributors, testnet participants, Uniswap and Nansen users. The sale is open to US citizens but prohibited for UK residents.

Tokenomics and Vesting

The $AZTEC token will be 100% community-owned from day one of unlocking. Venture investors (VCs) will have unlocks only in 2-3 years without a cliff, cannot stake in the first year, and the foundation will not sell tokens in the first year. For tokens from the public sale, per user data, there may be a 12-month lockup or 90 days if approved by community vote, though official sources indicate immediate availability post-auction.

Detailed tokenomics are available in the economic whitepaper on the Aztec site, emphasizing long-term alignment.

Project Background

Aztec is a "Private World Computer" that brings programmable privacy to Ethereum. The project has raised over $119 million in funding rounds, including $100 million in Series B in 2022.The sale is inspired by the 2017 ICO era but with enhancements for fairness. Founded to pioneer privacy in Web3, Aztec began as a zkRollup focused on enabling fully confidential transactions on Ethereum using zero-knowledge proofs.After eight years of development, backed by investors like a16z, it launched its public testnet in 2025, aiming to make privacy the default for decentralized applications (dApps) while preserving Ethereum's transparency.Aztec operates as a hybrid public-private zkRollup, allowing smart contracts with both private and public execution, and features a client-side Private Execution Environment for maximum user privacy.This positions Aztec as the first fully private and decentralized Layer-2 on Ethereum, addressing key challenges in blockchain scalability and confidentiality.