Zama has acquired TokenOps, an enterprise token lifecycle management platform that says it has processed more than $2 billion in distributions, to bring Fully Homomorphic Encryption to institutional token vesting, airdrops, and cap table operations.
The Paris-based cryptography company, which builds a confidentiality protocol for public blockchains including Ethereum and Solana, said the deal marks a structural shift in how institutions can operate onchain.
According to details shared with The Block, the move is designed to eliminate the signaling and front-running risks inherent in public-by-default blockchain infrastructure. Data cited by Zama puts a concrete cost on that exposure. About 90% of tokens underperform the market within 30 days of a transparent release, with average price drawdowns reaching 17% within 72 hours of major supply shocks, per analysis from market maker Keyrock cited by Zama.
Through the acquisition, token issuers gain the ability to execute the full token lifecycle, including allocations, release curves, and recipient identities, which are encrypted onchain using the ERC-7984 confidential token standard.
"In the legacy onchain world, transparency was a bug disguised as a feature. For an institution, a transparent ledger is an open book for competitors," Rand Hindi, co-founder and CEO of Zama, said. "Our goal is to make confidentiality the default state for every financial transaction onchain."
