Seismic Secures $10M to Break Down Blockchain Privacy Barriers
Seismic, a blockchain startup, has raised $10 million in a funding round led by a16z, a prominent venture capital firm, to tackle the privacy concerns that hinder fintechs from utilizing public blockchains for sensitive services. This investment brings the company’s total raised capital to $17 million, following its seed round in March. The funding round also saw participation from notable investors such as Polychain, dao5, Amber Group, TrueBridge Capital, and LayerZero Labs.
According to Lyron Co Ting Keh, the founder of Seismic, the growing interest of fintechs in crypto for cross-border payments and lending is evident. However, the inherent transparency of public ledgers poses a significant barrier to handling sensitive user data. To address this issue, Seismic is developing an encrypted blockchain with privacy embedded in the base protocol, a departure from the current wallet or app-level tools.
Seismic’s Vision for Blockchain Privacy
Seismic’s network is already live on Devnet and enables smart contracts to process sensitive data without exposing it to a public ledger. The company has partnered with initial partners such as Brookwell, which offers stablecoin-based cash accounts, and Cred Protocol, which offers private credit scores. Seismic expects to generate revenue through per-transaction fees early next year and plans to expand to fiat on-ramps and card programs in the future.
The new funding round comes just months after a16z first backed the company in June. At the time, a16z argued that the radical transparency of major L1s remained a “critical barrier” to industries such as financial services and healthcare. They found that zero-knowledge proofs can guarantee correctness but often “compromise composability,” making applications that require shared private state nearly impossible. Seismic’s architecture offers a way around this, providing a more secure and private solution for blockchain transactions.
Industry Shift Towards Blockchain Privacy
The investment in Seismic reflects a broader shift in the industry towards prioritizing blockchain privacy. A16z policy leaders have compared the current state of blockchain privacy to the early days of the internet, which required HTTPS before e-commerce could take off. Similarly, blockchains now need basic privacy levels to mature and achieve widespread adoption. As the demand for private and secure blockchain transactions continues to grow, Seismic is well-positioned to address this need and provide a solution for fintechs and other industries.
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