Taurus deploys first private stablecoin contract

Finextra

26-06-2025

Taurus SA, the digital asset infrastructure leader, announces the deployment of the first private stablecoin contract. Unlike legacy stablecoins, it offers confidentiality, untraceability, and anonymity, yet permits access to authorized parties (issuers, regulators, law enforcement).
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This achievement complements Taurus' release of the first open-source private security token in Q1 2025, bringing on-chain privacy to both the cash-leg and the security-leg of digital transactions. Built atop the Aztec Network, this stablecoin contract combines the confidentiality guarantees of zero-knowledge proofs with the compliance features expected from leading stablecoins.
'This marks a major step forward for stablecoins,' said JP Aumasson, Chief Security Officer at Taurus. 'We showed that it's possible to protect the privacy and security of stablecoin users while retaining the features of industry-standard stablecoins. This addresses concerns that we've repeatedly heard from banks looking at issuing stablecoins, central banks, and regulators.'
Arnaud Schenk, Executive Director of the Aztec Network board, commented: "Enforced global transparency of public blockchains limits the real-world adoption of stablecoins. Practical adoption for payroll, intra-company transfers, or day-to-day payments simply can't happen if every transaction remains visible to all and immutably inscribed on a widely available ledger. Aztec's zero knowledge Layer 2 is the only platform that delivers both airtight privacy for users, and granular issuer defined controls baked directly into the token."
A timely step as regulatory clarity emerges
This deployment follows a recent major milestone in stablecoin issuance: the US Senate passed the GENIUSAct, a landmark bill establishing a legal framework for the issuance and oversight of stablecoins. The timing couldn't be more relevant—stablecoin supply has surged past $250 billion, a 1200% growth since 2020.
Taurus expects the total stable coin supply to reach $1-2 trillion by 2030 as demand increases across institutional and consumer markets, pushed by favorable regulation. Taurus's privacy-preserving contract addresses the growing need for compliant, secure digital cash solutions in this expanding space.
All major stablecoin functionalities covered
This breakthrough from Taurus combines the confidentiality of transfers with the compliance features required by regulators. The smart contract covers critical functionalities required by a stablecoin. In particular, it supports Circle USDC's core features:
• Centralized, admin-controlled mint and burn.
• Pause/unpause capabilities, to halt transfers in case of an emergency.
• Address blacklisting to enforce sanctions and other compliance needs.
• Events logging, creating a verifiable audit trail.
Yet, unlike traditional stablecoins, all balances and transfers are encrypted and only readable by authorized parties (such as issuers and regulators). This prevents unauthorized parties from monitoring wallets, reverse-engineering investment strategies, or physically targeting high-value users.
With this private stablecoin contract, financial institutions, for whom privacy is a concern, will be able to issue stablecoins in payment or treasury applications while ensuring privacy of transfers and of the asset distribution and retaining regulatory observability.