Private settlement on public chains
Tenebrae helps institutions move assets without publishing their payments.
Keep the wallets and public chains you already use. Your wallet remains in control, the Tenebrae client creates zero-knowledge proofs locally, and Tenebrae Protocol verifies each operation on the host chain.
Available on testnet. Tenebrae is not yet a mainnet production system. See Stack for current networks and feature availability.
Public at the boundary. Private in between.
Public blockchains provide shared settlement and finality, but they also expose balances, counterparties, transaction amounts, and payment cadence. Tenebrae adds a confidential settlement layer without requiring an institution to adopt a new wallet or migrate to a private network.
The basic flow is:
- Deposit publicly from an existing wallet into Tenebrae Protocol.
- Settle privately inside the Protocol using client-generated zero-knowledge proofs.
- Withdraw publicly to an external wallet when funds need to return to public rails.
Deposit and withdrawal transactions remain visible on-chain. Inside Tenebrae, transfer amounts and recipient relationships are not published as plaintext Protocol inputs. Transaction metadata can still reveal information, so Tenebrae should not be described as making every aspect of a payment anonymous. Diligence framing: Compliance · maturity ceiling: Stack.
How Tenebrae works
| Layer | Role |
|---|---|
| Your wallet | Controls keys and signs transactions. Tenebrae does not custody user funds or keys. |
| Tenebrae client | Displays private balances, prepares operations, and creates zero-knowledge proofs locally. |
| Tenebrae Protocol | Verifies proofs and updates private settlement state on the host chain. |
| Public chain | Provides execution, availability, and final settlement. |
Policy predicates form part of Protocol settlement proofs. Institutions remain responsible for identity checks, screening, policy design, and their wider regulatory obligations. Learn more in Compliance.
Who Tenebrae is for
- Treasury teams that want to reduce exposure of operating balances, vendor relationships, and payment cadence.
- Fintech and vault products that need confidential settlement between public funding and public spend rails.
- Finance and accounts-payable teams that want directed B2B payments without publishing recipient relationships.
- Payroll platforms and workers that want privacy after a public stablecoin payout.
- Product teams evaluating private settlement for an embedded or co-branded experience.