Aztec Connect Sunset is Official: Aztec Network

“Bringing programmable privacy to web3,” the Aztec Network has announced the sunsetting of its Aztec Connect contract. Aztec Connect is Aztec Network’s “privacy infrastructure that served as the encryption layer for Ethereum.” Deposits in the Aztec Connect contract (from zk.money and zkpay.finance) are poised for being disabled in a week’s time, per the Aztec Network.

Making the Aztec Connect sunsetting announcement official, the Aztec Network tweeted:

Today we’re announcing the sunset of Aztec Connect.

1 week from today, deposits into the Aztec Connect contract will be disabled.

Users will be able to withdraw funds with no fees for one year.

All code is open source.

Read the full announcement here:https://t.co/mk9pCy0tYx pic.twitter.com/6pTgTBSGkr

— Aztec (@aztecnetwork) March 13, 2023

The Aztec Network states, “our goal has always been to develop a truly decentralized general-purpose encrypted blockchain with the security of Ethereum.”

As for the user withdrawals, the Aztec Network states, Users will continue being able to withdraw with no fees for one year. Our sequencer will slowly reduce the frequency of rollup blocks for withdrawal, with a final sunset date approximately one year from now: March 21st, 2024.

The reported critical dates are as follows:

“13th — 21st March: Aztec Connect normal functionality

21st March 2023 at 2PM UTC: Deposits disabled

One-year withdrawal window (March 13th, 2023 — March 21st, 2024)

March 21st, 2024: Last Aztec rollup sent from Aztec sequencer

March 21st, 2024 onwards: users will have to run withdrawal software or rely on community-run sequencers.”

It is also clarified that one year from now, from March 21st, 2024, “Aztec will no longer run a sequencer.” The incumbent system reportedly would not “publish rollup blocks processing Aztec Connect transactions, contract permissions will be renounced, and all rollup functionality will be ceased.”

Moving forward, the Aztec Network states their mid- and long-term focus will be solely directed towards the development of two major products, which are mutually compatible and interlinked: 

• Noir, the universal language of zero knowledge

• Our next-generation encrypted blockchain

The Aztec Network claims “Noir is the simplest, most powerful way to write programs in zero-knowledge.” It is also reported that Noir’s “modified version” is set to be the “smart contract language for Aztec’s next-gen blockchain.” A local developer testnet is also reportedly in the works by the end of 2023.