I checked the on chain records of using Aztec and found that it has been over 1700 days. On March 15, 2021, Aztec officially announced http://zk.money Protocol, I immediately added ETH to their protocol. At that time, I specifically looked at the records on the chain and I should be the 20th user in the entire network to perform the Deposit operation. Of course, my goal is not pure either. On the one hand, I strongly support the development of privacy technology, whether it's Tornado Cash or 0xbow, I am the first to experience it; On the other hand, I do look forward to early supporters having airdrops. At that time, airdrop rewards were very solid, but I never thought about "brushing" and just wanted to be a real, long-term ordinary user. The gas fee is also astonishing, with the cost of a single on chain transaction exceeding 0.01 ETH. Later, they launched Aztec Connect, which can connect DeFi, and I followed up immediately. That was already over 1200 days ago. one ️⃣ Not just 'mixing coins' In this long wait, Aztec did not revolve around the old logic of "mixing coins", but completed a qualitative change from a "privacy tool" to a "private world computer". Simply put, in the past we could only achieve 'anonymous transfer', but now what Aztec wants to do is allow us to 'use various applications anonymously'. This solves a major pain point: we need smart contracts that are as user-friendly as Ethereum, but we don't want to expose payslips, social relationships, and every transaction to everyone. This kind of 'programmable privacy' is the real missing link in Ethereum. two ️⃣ Programming language Noir In terms of ecological construction, they have done a job similar to "road construction": Noir language. Previously, the threshold for developing privacy applications was extremely high, like writing a heavenly book, but now Aztec has leveled this threshold. This means that in the future, the privacy applications we can see will not be limited to simple transfers, but will have more emerging features such as privacy DeFi, privacy voting, and even privacy games. Only when developers find it useful can the application explode and ordinary users truly benefit. three ️⃣ Application scenarios What makes me feel that privacy is no longer just a castle in the air is the implementation of applications like zkPassport. It completely changed my stereotype of 'compliance'. Previously, in order to prevent witches or conduct KYC, we had to send passport photos to the project team, which posed a high risk of data leakage; Now with Aztec's technology, I only need to prove to the chain that 'I am a real person' or 'I am of age', without having to give out sensitive information such as passport number and date of birth. Meeting regulatory requirements while returning data sovereignty to oneself is what new technology should look like. four ️⃣ Ignition Chain Another thing that really touched me is Ignition Chain's insistence on decentralization. Unlike the centralized sorter risk commonly found in mainstream L2, Aztec established a decentralized validation architecture at the beginning of its launch. This underlying insistence on countering censorship is precisely practicing Vitalik's assertion that "privacy is hygiene": upgrading privacy protection from an optional "feature" to an indispensable "infrastructure standard" for blockchain networks. five ️⃣ continue to support So after Aztec announced the joint opening of CCA auction with Uniswap, I rushed in the first time and only ranked in the top 50, which was a bit backward. In fact, the investment amount is not large, purely hoping to see these truly hardcore technologies continue to grow in this impetuous cycle. More technical details https://substack.chainfeeds.xyz/p/aztec