Privacy protocol giant Zama will launch its token public sale on 1/21. Can a $55 million undervalued valuation break through?

Privacy Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) Privacy Protocol Zama will officially launch its native token $ZAMA on January 21st at 4 PM Taiwan time, through an on-chain public sale using a sealed Dutch Auction (Dutch Auction) mechanism, with a minimum fully diluted valuation (FDV) set at $55 million. This article will provide readers with a detailed introduction to its tokenomics and sale details.

What is Zama? Who are the team and investors behind it?

As one of the leaders in the FHE space, Zama is an open-source blockchain infrastructure focused on privacy. By combining Multi-Party Computation (MPC) and Zero-Knowledge proof technology, it enables public blockchains to execute smart contracts while keeping transaction amounts, balances, and state data encrypted throughout the process.

Application scenarios include confidential tokens similar to Solana’s (Confidential Tokens), privacy DeFi (dark pool trading), governance voting, and other medical or financial applications. Currently, Zama’s mainnet is live, and it has successfully executed multiple low-cost FHE privacy-preserving stablecoin transfers.

Rootdata shows that the Zama team includes co-founder and CEO Rand Hindi, Pascal Paillier who previously led the cryptography department at cybersecurity giant Gemalto, among others. Investment firms include Multicoin, Pantera, Protocol Labs, and more. Angel investors include Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko and Polkadot founder Gavin Wood.

Notably, the last funding round B valued the company at as high as $1 billion.

$ZAMA Token 12% Public Sale Four-Phase Schedule

This $ZAMA public sale will release a total of 12% of the total supply of 11 billion tokens, divided into four phases. The specific allocation is as follows:

Community Presale (2%): Available to Zama NFT holders, participation at a fixed price

Public Auction (8%): From January 21 to January 24, conducted as a sealed Dutch auction (Successful bidders will receive the full allocation)

Post-Auction Additional Purchase (2%): From January 27 to February 1, open for purchase at the final settlement price (Bidders will receive tokens proportionally)

Token Claim: Opens on February 2 with immediate unlock

Note: Participants interested in bidding should convert USDT into “shielded USDT” suitable for the auction in advance.

How does the sealed Dutch auction protect privacy and how to participate?

Unlike typical token sales, Zama adopts a “sealed Dutch auction” mechanism. All bids and quantities from participants are encrypted and hidden, preventing mutual knowledge. The system matches bids from high to low prices until all tokens are allocated.

For example, if the final settlement price is $4, Alice will receive all her token allocation $4 excess bids will be refunded(, Bob will receive a proportional share of tokens )partial refund(, and Charlie, whose bid is below the settlement price, will receive a full refund ).

Currently, the minimum bid price is set at $0.005 per token, corresponding to a minimum FDV of $55 million. This will dynamically adjust with bidding activity, with no upper limit on the final valuation.

(Octra, rooted in the privacy sector, ICO at a $200 million valuation on Sonar—can it compete with Zama?)

Where to participate in bidding? CoinList and Zama’s own platform for simultaneous sale

Participants can choose to bid via CoinList or directly through Zama’s own auction app.

Zama auction app verification page

Users must complete identity verification, steps include:

Select individual $ZAMA Individual( or corporate )Company( verification

Choose Taiwan as the region, upload ID card or passport )Tested with ID card(

Address proof can be a subscription bill, telecom bill, or bank statement, etc. )Tested with Chunghwa Telecom bill in three minutes(

After passing verification, register a wallet to participate

How is the valuation set at $55 million to $1 billion, and how does the market price it?

Based on Binance’s pre-market contracts, the market price is around 0.09 to 0.094 )equivalent to a FDV of about $900 million(, which is over 17 times the auction floor price. The final auction price will of course be much higher.

Data from Polymarket regarding Zama’s post-issuance FDV prediction shows a 78% probability of exceeding $600 million, 57% for $800 million, and 33% for $1 billion. The sharp increase in the former and the decrease in the latter two suggest that investor and community confidence in exceeding an $800 million FDV is waning.

Leading privacy sector public sale: Can Zama attract the market?

In summary, the author believes that an opening valuation of $800 million to $1 billion is overly optimistic. Given recent privacy and FHE sector public sales, most retail participants have limited demand and imagination for privacy. Additionally, internal conflicts within Zcash )ZEC$ZAMA ’s team are intensifying, which may lead to dispersed liquidity and market confidence.

Under these circumstances, token issuance should consider community support rather than strong narratives. Investors should think carefully before betting, and existing holders might hedge risks through Polymarket’s “No” positions to lock in profits (Non-investment advice).

This article Privacy Protocol Giant Zama to Launch Token Sale on 1/21: Can a $55 million low valuation break through? First published on Chain News ABMedia.