In some of the biggest news of the year, @aztecnetwork has launched its Public Testnet, allowing developers to build fully private applications on @ethereum using tools like Noir and PLONK: https://aztec.network/blog/a-new-era-for-web3-introducing-aztec-public-testnet… The network is fully decentralized from day one. Developers can now experiment with privacy-preserving smart contracts, while node operators help run the sequencer and prover network. Aztec aims to enable true onchain programmable privacy and digital sovereignty for users
The team also published an article explaining how privacy technologies like ZKPs, MPC, FHE, and TEEs can be used alone or in combination to enhance blockchain security and privacy. They detail current capabilities, trade-offs, and implementation challenges.
While combining them (ZK-MPC-FHE-TEE) is possible, it’s often impractical due to complexity, overhead, and performance constraints:https://aztec.network/blog/is-zk-mpc-fhe-tee-a-real-creature…
Aztec CEO @Zac_Aztec followedup with an interview arguing that privacy is essential for Ethereum’s scalability and mainstream adoption. He outlined three key privacy pillars - user, data, and code - and supports composable privacy with strong compliance.
Zac believes privacy should remain at the L2 level, not Ethereum’s base, and emphasizes better tooling, zk-SNARK innovations, and private mempools to make private blockchain interactions practical and secure:https://crypto.news/interview-with-aztec-labs-ceo-zkps-privacy-pools-and-why-ethereum-needs-privacy-to-scale/…
Zac also featured on a recently released episode of https://hozk.io/radio, joining @alicelingl to discuss topics like the role of privacy in Web3, why transparency limits real-world adoption, and how Aztec’s hybrid model enables private user data with public, verifiable protocols. He also touched on advances in recursion, lightweight proofs, and new use cases emerging with Noir: https://x.com/HouseofZK/status/1910738270805229827…
Moving on to @NoirLang - version 1.0.0-beta.3 has been released, focusing on performance insights, support for 128-bit unsigned integers, and enhanced control flow with loops in unconstrained functions, while a new Profiler helps identify bottlenecks, enabling faster optimization. These changes move Noir closer to a stable 1.0, improving efficiency and program expressiveness: https://x.com/NoirLang/status/1912601638726168800…
In addition, Noir now runs on @Starknet through an integration with the Garaga SDK - its first deployment outside the EVM ecosystem. This marks a key step toward cross-chain compatibility, letting developers build scalable, private apps on Starknet without deep ZK knowledge.
The integration was largely built by @GaragaStarknet, showing Noir’s practical, chain-agnostic approach: https://x.com/NoirLang/status/1906827237586018740…
Finally, following Aztec's sponsorship of @lagrangedev and @HouseofZK's ZK/AI Summit at @token2049, they'll once again join forces with @HouseofZK to host Frens Social in Toronto as part of @consensus2025.
Full details here: https://lu.ma/edm8r04d - Don't miss out
