Aztec Connect was launched to provide secure and private access to Ethereum's DeFi protocols. However, it was later removed due to legal reasons.

Aztec has developed Noir, a programming language similar to Rust. It can be used to write private smart contracts and has a comprehensive framework.

Aztec raised $100M in a Series B funding led by A16Z, with the participation of other well-known investors. This funding will be used to develop a new encrypted architecture for Ethereum, which is expected to be the next generation in blockchain technology.

Aztec has released Fernet, a decentralized sequencer selection mechanism that allows random validators to order transactions and publish blocks. It is simple, secure, and easy to deploy.

Aztec Sandbox, a local developer environment for building end-to-end private applications, has been launched by Aztec. Aztec Sandbox provides the necessary tools and libraries to run and test private smart contracts.

In summary, Aztec has much catching up to do with zkSync or Linea despite planning a mainnet launch in early 2024.