Aptos Launches Confidential APT on Mainnet

Aptos activated Confidential APT on its mainnet Friday following a near‑unanimous on‑chain governance vote.

The token is pegged 1:1 to Aptos’ native APT and uses zero‑knowledge proofs to conceal wallet balances and transfer amounts. Transactions remain cryptographically verifiable on the chain without revealing those amounts.

Wallet addresses and the fact that a transaction occurred remain visible, distinguishing Confidential APT from fully anonymous tokens. The design hides balances and transfer sizes while preserving on‑chain verification.

Auditor keys can reveal transfer amounts for investigations or subpoenas, but any use of those keys must be authorized through a successful on‑chain governance vote.

Sherry Xiao, founding engineer at Aptos Labs, described the token as a way to reduce risks that have limited crypto use, citing wallet profiling, targeted scams and unwanted disclosure of financial information. “Portfolio sniping, social pressure from visible holdings, personal safety — these are pain points people feel today,” she said.

Xiao noted workplace use cases, saying Confidential APT can prevent salaries, treasury moves and trading strategies from becoming permanently public if companies run such flows on‑chain. She added that businesses will need time to integrate private token flows into tax reporting and anti‑money‑laundering procedures.

Xiao expects individual users to adopt Confidential APT faster than enterprises and said a sustained, issue‑free period on mainnet would help ease enterprise concerns.

The launch joins other privacy efforts across blockchains that use zero‑knowledge proofs to hide transaction details while keeping some on‑chain visibility and a governance‑mediated audit mechanism.