Loopring zkRollup Privacy vs Aztec Connect

Loopring zkRollup excels at providing low-cost, high-throughput privacy for mainstream DeFi trading by focusing on application-specific privacy. Its zkRollup bundles and proves thousands of trades off-chain, settling only a single validity proof on Ethereum L1. This results in transaction fees under $0.25 and a throughput of over 2,000 TPS for its core AMM and order book, making private swaps and transfers economically viable for everyday users. However, its privacy is limited to its native DEX and payment functions.

Aztec Connect (now Aztec Network) takes a fundamentally different approach by building a general-purpose, private zkRollup. It uses advanced zero-knowledge proofs like PLONK to enable fully private, programmable smart contracts. This allows for complex private DeFi interactions—such as private lending on Lido or Aave—via its bridge architecture. The trade-off is higher computational cost and complexity; while groundbreaking, this has historically resulted in higher proving costs and a more constrained developer environment compared to public L2s.

The key trade-off: If your priority is cost-effective, high-performance privacy for specific financial actions like trading, choose Loopring. If you prioritize maximum privacy and programmability for complex, general-purpose DeFi applications, choose Aztec. The decision hinges on whether you need a scalable privacy engine for a defined use case or a full-stack privacy layer for innovative dApp logic.

Loopring's zkRollup excels at high-throughput, low-cost DEX operations because it focuses on a single, optimized application. Its design, built on Ethereum, delivers 2,000+ TPS for trades with fees often under $0.10, making it a proven, production-ready solution for order book and AMM exchanges. Its primary strength is efficiency and composability within its own ecosystem, but this comes at the cost of general programmability and native privacy for arbitrary logic.

Aztec Connect (now Aztec Network) takes a fundamentally different approach by prioritizing programmable privacy for any Ethereum dApp. Its strategy uses a privacy-focused zkRollup with a private kernel, enabling private interactions with mainnet contracts via its bridged asset system. This results in a trade-off of higher transaction costs and lower throughput (initially ~15 TPS) for the benefit of full transaction confidentiality, including sender, receiver, and amount.

The key architectural divergence: Loopring is a public, high-performance L2 for specific applications, while Aztec is a private, general-purpose L2 for confidential DeFi. Loopring's TVL, often in the $200M+ range, reflects its dominance in public DEX scaling. Aztec's strength is enabling private voting, shielded stablecoin transfers, and confidential lending without requiring dApps to rebuild from scratch.

The final trade-off is clear: Choose Loopring's zkRollup if your priority is building a high-performance, low-fee trading application where public transparency is acceptable or required. Opt for Aztec Connect when your core requirement is enabling private interactions for existing or new DeFi protocols, where confidentiality of user activity is the non-negotiable feature.