Zama

Classic encryption protects data in transit and in storage, but a server has to decrypt the data before it can work with it. With fully homomorphic encryption the server adds, compares or multiplies ciphertexts and returns an encrypted result that only the key holder can read. Zama describes FHE as end-to-end encryption that also covers processing.

The schemes rest on mathematical lattice problems, which are considered hard even for quantum computers, so FHE also counts as post-quantum cryptography. Encrypted computation still needs far more computing power than computation on plain data, and the Zama Protocol therefore runs it on separate coprocessor nodes next to the blockchain.

Holders deposit USDC into the official cUSDC contract and receive cUSDC one to one, and from then on the balance is encrypted. Confidential USDT works the same way. Both follow ERC-7984, the confidential token standard on Ethereum, so that wallets and explorers can show transfers without revealing amounts. Confidential vaults pay onchain yield without showing the size of a position, and confidential swaps encrypt the amount, direction and price limit of a trade.

The trading firm GSR used the Zama Protocol for the first confidential over-the-counter trade on Ethereum mainnet, between two counterparties that had passed KYC checks. On Morpho, confidential USDC earns yield through the Steakhouse USDC Prime vault, with the size, direction and timing of deposits encrypted.

For tokenized securities, Zama became the default confidentiality layer of the T-REX Ledger, which builds on the ERC-3643 token standard for permissioned assets. Investor identities, deal terms and cap tables can stay private while the issuer still enforces who may hold a token.

In June 2025 Zama raised 57 million dollars in a Series B led by Blockchange Ventures and Pantera Capital, which brought its total funding to more than 150 million dollars. Tech.eu reported a valuation of more than one billion dollars.

The ZAMA token pays the protocol fees: each encryption and decryption costs a fee in ZAMA, and that fee is burned. Operators of the protocol nodes stake ZAMA and are paid from newly issued tokens, at an initial rate of five percent a year, and holders can delegate their tokens to operators.

fhEVM is the technology of Zama that lets smart contracts on Ethereum and other EVM chains compute on encrypted values. Developers import a Solidity library and use encrypted data types, and the coprocessors carry out the encrypted operations.

The ZAMA token pays for encryption, decryption and other protocol operations, and these fees are burned. Node operators must stake ZAMA to take part, and token holders who delegate to an operator share its rewards after commission.

No, the Zama Protocol runs on existing layer-1 and layer-2 networks and needs no new chain or trusted intermediary. Ethereum mainnet carries the first deployments, from confidential payroll to institutional trading.

Rand Hindi and Pascal Paillier founded Zama, and Rand Hindi leads the company as chief executive. The team counts 119 people, 37 of them with a doctorate, from 26 countries.