Matter Labs launches Prividium Connect for private cross-chain asset swaps
Key points
- Matter Labs launched Prividium Connect on 10 November 2026 as an open-source product supporting Prividium Layer 2, Hyperledger Besu, and Ethereum-compatible blockchains.
- The system uses zero-knowledge proofs so that neither counterparty nor the settlement chain sees the other institution's transaction records during an asset swap.
- Both ZK proofs must be posted to a mutually agreed settlement chain before a swap completes, meaning both parties retain a trust dependency on that settlement chain's operators.
- The Deutsche Bundesbank is testing Prividium as a Layer 2; the US Cari Network (more than 30 banks) has adopted it for a tokenised deposit network launching next year; and Matter Labs is a named DTCC Tokenisation Service partner.
- At least four other interoperability approaches already exist in the institutional blockchain space, with none yet dominant, leaving Prividium Connect entering an unsettled competitive field.
Matter Labs has launched Prividium Connect, an open-source interoperability layer designed to let institutions operating on separate private blockchains exchange assets without exposing either party’s internal records. At launch, the product supports the Prividium Layer 2 blockchain, Hyperledger Besu, and other Ethereum-compatible chains, with broader chain support described as planned.
The mechanism relies on zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs: each institution’s chain generates a proof confirming that an asset was moved in accordance with agreed rules, and both proofs are posted to a mutually accepted settlement chain before the swap finalises. Neither counterparty nor the settlement chain itself sees the other institution’s underlying transaction data. Matter Labs chief executive Alex Gluchowski has argued this removes the need for a trusted intermediary, though the source notes that both sides must still trust whoever operates the shared settlement chain.
Several institutions have already engaged with Prividium technology ahead of this launch. The Deutsche Bundesbank is testing Prividium as a Layer 2 blockchain, a development that carries weight given the Bundesbank’s Trigger solution is now part of the European Central Bank‘s Pontes distributed ledger technology (DLT) payment system. The US Cari Network, which serves more than 30 banks, has adopted Prividium for a tokenised deposit network due to launch next year. Matter Labs was also named as a partner at the launch of DTCC‘s Tokenisation Service last month.
Prividium Connect positions itself as a fifth approach in a field where at least four interoperability models already exist and none has emerged as dominant. How much adoption it achieves will depend in part on whether institutions building isolated chains are willing to agree on a common settlement layer, and on what governance and trust assumptions that shared layer carries.