Seismic Overview: A Privacy Blockchain in Fintech
With the recent surge in prices of privacy-focused cryptocurrencies like ZEC, privacy has once again taken center stage in the crypto market. a16z crypto recently stated that privacy is more important than ever as cryptocurrencies reach more mainstream users. In this context, Seismic, a privacy-preserving blockchain, announced the closing of a new $10 million funding round, the second one led by a16z crypto this year.
Seismic has so far secured a total of $17 million in funding from two rounds. In March 2025, the company announced a $7 million seed round led by a16z crypto, with participation from Polychain and 1kx. On November 12, the company announced another $10 million funding round, again led by a16z crypto, with the addition of new investors such as Amber Group. The funding will primarily be used for technical R&D and ecosystem expansion.
Project Positioning and Technical Characteristics
Seismic is a privacy-preserving blockchain specifically designed for fintech scenarios. The project is built on EVM, and developers can use their familiar Solidity language, with added syntax control to manage privacy settings. This design reduces developer learning costs while providing the necessary privacy protection capabilities.
The project's core technical features are reflected in three aspects:
- Through protocol-layer encryption and secure hardware support, Seismic achieves default privacy protection settings.
- The project adopts Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) technology instead of zero-knowledge proof solutions. All nodes must operate in TEE to ensure data security.
- The system adds shielded data types, including shielded integers, booleans, and addresses, making it easier for developers to handle privacy data.
In addition, Seismic Reth, as its native execution client, further enhances privacy capabilities: It supports private storage, encrypted transactions, and integrates 6 new precompiled contracts (such as AES-GCM encryption, ECDH key exchange), making it easier for developers to quickly call privacy functions. This client was open-sourced in October 2024 to lower developer entry barriers.
Seismic Team
Seismic was founded by Lyron Co Ting Keh, who holds a bachelor's degree in computer science and mathematics from Stanford University. Lyron previously founded an educational technology company, developed a Ruby on Rails training platform, and participated in the development of tools for privacy projects such as Zcash and Aztec. Core engineer Peter He previously led the development of Ethereum application-specific blockchain architecture, is proficient in distributed systems and privacy technologies, and is currently responsible for Seismic's technical implementation. Head of Business Development Terence focuses on promoting fintech collaboration and is committed to expanding Seismic's privacy capabilities to more financial scenarios. Although the team has not been fully disclosed, public resumes show that members come from institutions such as Wintermute, Google X, and Apple R&D.
Brookwell: The First Application Built on Seismic
In September of this year, Brookwell, the first application built on Seismic, was officially launched. This fintech product, developed by entrepreneurs Ravi and Rohan, aims to provide users with DeFi yields while using traditional payment channels.
Brookwell chose to build on Seismic primarily because of its privacy protection capabilities. This application handles deep personal financial transactions, including rent payments and salary disbursements, which are sensitive data that is not suitable for public visibility on a public blockchain. Through Seismic's privacy protection technology, Brookwell can achieve a connection between cryptocurrencies and traditional financial systems while protecting user privacy. The project's official website is now open for waitlist applications.
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