Aztec Token Launch Faces Price Drop

Project Background and Development

Aztec Network uses zero-knowledge proofs to enable privacy-preserving transactions while staying compatible with Ethereum. The team introduced programmability to privacy, allowing developers to build apps with opt-in confidentiality.

The project originated in 2018, raised between $119 million and $178 million in funding, and released several key products. These included Aztec Connect in 2022 (later sunset), a public testnet in May 2025, and the Ignition mainnet in November 2025. The mainnet launched as a decentralized, operatorless L2, with staking activated in advance of the token sale.

Token Sale and Structure

Aztec’s token sale began on November 13, 2025. It used Uniswap Labs’ Continuous Clearing Auction (CCA) format, designed to enable fair, on-chain price discovery. This was the first major test of the CCA model in the wild.

The sale offered 1.547 billion AZTEC tokens—about 15% of total supply—and targeted community distribution. Participants included ETH stakers, zk.money users, and Uniswap traders. Over 300,000 addresses were whitelisted. The team raised over 19,000 ETH (around $61 million) from more than 16,000 users.

The sale’s starting valuation was $350 million FDV, roughly 75% below Aztec’s last funding round. A post-sale liquidity pool on Uniswap v4 was seeded with 4,234 ETH, locked for at least 90 days.

Launch and Immediate Price Drop

The token went live on February 11–12, 2026, with an initial listing price near $0.0188. Despite a brief spike to around $0.0473, the price quickly dropped over 60% within hours, settling back at ~$0.018. At that level, the market cap stood at about $53 million, with FDV around $189 million.

This steep drop created frustration among both community buyers and presale participants.

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Factors Behind the Drop

Several factors contributed to the crash:

• Profit-taking and loss-cutting: Traders sold aggressively whether the launch price was above or below their entry point.
• Market conditions: A broader downturn, including Bitcoin dipping below $100,000, made speculative launches riskier.
• No airdrop: Early users received no token allocation. This decision, combined with comments from the team dismissing airdrops as harmful, alienated contributors who expected recognition.
• Presale lockups: Participants in the token sale are subject to a 12-month lock, limiting their ability to exit and intensifying negative sentiment.
• High expectations vs. low return: Compared to peers like Starknet or zkSync, Aztec launched with a much lower FDV, which sparked concerns over investor incentives.

Community Sentiment

The reaction from the crypto community was mixed but leaned negative. Many users accused the project of prioritizing VCs over loyal contributors. Some saw the CCA and sale structure as an over-engineered way to extract value while offering few benefits to retail buyers.

Others argued that the decision not to airdrop tokens to testnet participants or long-time users undermined trust. Comparisons were drawn to projects like Arbitrum and Uniswap, which had successful airdrop-based launches that encouraged loyalty.

On social media, some labeled the sale as exploitative or “VC cashout theater.” Others pointed to the declining price and restrictive lockups as signs that secondary buyers lacked reason to hold long term.

What To Watch For Next

Despite the price crash, the Aztec team continues to promote the project as a long-term, privacy-first Layer 2. They’ve committed to decentralization from launch and believe their zero-knowledge technology and Noir developer tooling position them well for future growth.

Legal backing from Latham & Watkins and a structured mainnet rollout reflect serious planning. However, the community backlash presents a major challenge. Rebuilding trust will depend on how the team addresses concerns about token distribution, ecosystem incentives, and roadmap execution.

As of February 12, 2026, the token remains volatile. Traders and community members are watching closely for shifts in liquidity, early whale activity, and any new updates from the team.