**Deck:** On-chain governance took away admin control over Aztec’s rollup contract, freezing the code in place and clearing the technical bar for L2Beat’s highest decentralization layer.
Privacy-focused Ethereum layer-2 Aztec said it has reached Phase 2 on L2Beat, the highest decentralization rating the rollup tracker awards. The milestone followed an on-chain governance action that revoked ownership of the rollup contract.
Aztec announced the change Monday afternoon on X. Revoking ownership made the contract code immutable, the network said, meaning no administrator could bypass the protocol and leaving an escape hatch through which users can always leave. These three properties correspond directly to the conditions that L2Beat sets for its top level.
Code frozen in place
L2Beat’s Phase 2 is the final rung on its maturity ladder, reserved for rollups managed entirely by smart contracts rather than a privileged operator. The framework requires an immutable contract with no admin override, a permissionless trial system, and an exit window that allows users to withdraw their funds if they object to an upgrade. L2Beat’s project page lists Aztec in phase 2.
Most rollups launch with what L2Beat calls training wheels: a multisig or safety board that can pause the chain or push upgrades. Phase 2 removes that backstop. Now that ownership has been revoked, Aztec’s merger contract can no longer be changed by implementers. The escape hatch is the user-side guarantee, a mechanism that allows holders to withdraw from Ethereum even if the network’s operators become uncooperative.
Privacy place
Aztec described itself as the only decentralized L2 with privacy native to the protocol. The network runs on an Ethereum layer-2 in which transaction privacy is built into the base layer rather than added by individual applications, supported by zero-knowledge proofs, cryptographic shortcuts that allow one party to prove a statement is true without revealing the underlying data.
The Phase 2 designation comes months after Aztec’s mainnet went live and weeks after a separate incident on the legacy infrastructure. A long-term contract from Aztec Connect, the network’s previous product, was redeemed earlier this month worth roughly $2.1 million, three years after that system was phased out. The current package is a separate code base.
Aztec Labs, the team behind the protocol, has continued to build out its privacy stack. It acquired ZKPassport to incorporate privacy-preserving identity verification into its network. L2Beat follows another project under the Aztec banner, the legacy Aztec Connect, separately at a lower level.