Aztec Revives zk.money with Enhanced Privacy and Lower Costs

Aztec Labs is reviving zk.money, a private payments application on Ethereum, after a nearly three-year hiatus. The relaunch comes just eight days after Aztec activated private smart contract execution, giving the app a more capable foundation than its predecessor.

The original zk.money shut down from March 2023 to May 2024 as Aztec pivoted toward building out its Layer 2 infrastructure rather than maintaining consumer-facing products. Since then, Aztec's Ignition Chain, a fully decentralized Layer 2 architecture, went live in November 2025.

The Alpha V5 upgrades completed in July 2026 unlocked private smart contract execution, which has significantly lowered transaction costs on the Aztec Network to under $0.05 per average transaction fee. This is crucial for zk.money's relaunch, as it sets a competitive foundation for private payments on Ethereum.