[NEW YORK, 12 March, 2026] – GSR, crypto’s capital markets partner, today announced the successful execution of the first confidential, over-the-counter (OTC) trade utilizing the Zama protocol. The Zama Protocol enables issuing, trading, and staking assets confidentially on public blockchains in a quantum-secure and compliant way. The transaction marks a significant milestone in institutional digital asset trading, enabling the quantity transferred between two fully KYC’d counterparties to remain confidential on-chain.
Public blockchain ledgers often expose transaction amounts, which can increase the risk of information leakage and predatory trading, including front-running of large token transfers. Zama’s technology enables the amount transferred between counterparties to remain encrypted and concealed from the broader market, while maintaining compliance standards through KYC’d participation of both entities. By leveraging this technology, GSR executed an OTC trade while preserving transactional privacy, all without compromising compliance.
“Confidential settlement infrastructure addresses one of the largest pain points for institutions trading digital assets,” said Spencer Hallarn, Global Head of OTC Trading, GSR. “As an active OTC liquidity provider and market maker, innovations that improve execution quality and overall market structure are crucial to our business.”
The Zama protocol can extend confidential functionality across a broad range of digital assets through its wrapping capabilities. In addition to encrypted transfers, the protocol incorporates auditing features designed to meet institutional oversight and compliance requirements.
“Privacy is the final frontier for institutional adoption of public blockchains. By proving that confidentiality and compliance can exist as two sides of the same coin, we aren’t just facilitating a single trade—we are architecting the secure, transparent, and private foundation upon which the next generation of global financial infrastructure will be built,” said Rand Hindi, co-founder and CEO of Zama.
The transaction underscores growing institutional demand for privacy-preserving tools in digital asset markets and signals momentum toward broader adoption of confidential settlement standards.
About GSR
GSR is crypto’s capital markets partner, delivering market making services, institutional-grade OTC trading, and venture backing to founders and institutions. With more than a decade of experience, we provide strategic guidance, market intelligence, and access to a global network to help teams scale. Users can visit www.gsr.io for more information, including the General Terms of Business of Business, relevant disclosures, and GSR’s trading terms.
About Zama
Zama is a cryptography company building state-of-the-art Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) solutions for blockchain. Its protocol enables confidentiality on public blockchains, allowing digital assets to be issued, managed, and traded privately onchain. Founded by FHE pioneer Dr. Pascal Paillier and entrepreneur Dr. Rand Hindi, Zama brings together one of the world’s largest teams of FHE researchers and engineers and supports a global ecosystem of developers building confidential applications.
Media Contacts
GSR: Haley Malanga - VP of PR - haley.malanga@gsr.io
Zama: Julia André - PR & Communications Director - julia.andre@zama.org