Helius, the Solana infrastructure firm founded by Mert Mumtaz, has acquired Light Protocol to enable its experienced team to focus on Solana privacy solutions.
According to an announcement shared with The Block, Light Protocol was founded in 2021 to bring zero-knowledge privacy to Solana before it shifted to ZK Compression, which was co-developed by Helius and launched in 2024.
ZK Compression is an infrastructure framework aimed at reducing the cost of storing data on Solana using zero-knowledge proofs, enabling developers to build large-scale consumer and enterprise apps.
"The acquisition returns Light to its original mission, pairing its cryptography with Helius's distribution and infrastructure," the announcement reads. This includes building a ZK-based privacy protocol for "private payments and private DeFi on Solana."
This chain, unnamed in the statement on Wednesday, is fully programmable and configurable to enable customization for both retail and institutional use cases. Helius plans to open the new privacy infrastructure to developers in the coming months, according to the announcement.
