Key Takeaways:
COTI launched Nightfall, an enterprise-grade ZK Roll-up privacy layer, on testnet July 22, advancing toward an Ethereum mainnet deployment later this year. The protocol, built on open-source architecture originally developed by Ernst & Young in 2019, is designed for regulated and institutional environments that require transaction privacy without sacrificing auditability, COTI said.
"Nightfall gives enterprises the ability to execute private transactions on Ethereum while maintaining regulatory compliance through built-in KYC and AML flows," the COTI team said in a Medium post announcing the testnet launch.
The rollout follows a two-phase schedule. Phase one, now active, restricts access to COTI's internal team and selected partners to validate network flows. Phase two will open the testnet to developers and the broader COTI community ahead of a mainnet launch targeted for later in 2026. Nightfall supports private transfers under the ERC-20, ERC-721, ERC-1155 and ERC-3225 standards, and incorporates selective disclosure features for regulators alongside end-to-end encrypted smart contracts.
Nightfall operates in parallel with GC, COTI's Garbled Circuits network oriented toward high-performance confidential computing. Both networks use the COTI token as their native unit, with 1:1 bridges between chains and a fixed maximum supply — expanding the token's utility without altering its issuance structure. The dual-network architecture positions COTI to compete with other privacy-focused Ethereum L2s such as Aztec and Starknet's privacy stack, both of which have also advanced their testnet and mainnet capabilities in recent months.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
