Panther raises $22m to build privacy protocol on Ethereum, Polygon, Flare, and more

The protocol will allow builders to provide privacy features within their apps without needing a highly specialized team of cryptographers and privacy tech engineers to do so.

Panther Protocol has raised over $22 million as part of their Public Sale as the project prepares a privacy solution for DeFi and Web3 users across public blockchains.

The Gibraltar-based protocol, which had previously raised $10 million, has been steadily growing its team of experts in cybersecurity, cryptography, blockchain engineering, game theory, DeFi, ecosystem development, technology commercialization and marketing.

The team now consists of over 33 leaders in their fields of expertise, but the fundraiser will help the team grow further in the coming months.

Oliver Gale, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Panther Protocol, said: “This raise as part of our public sale demonstrates a huge demand for an interoperable, compliance compatible privacy protocol.

“We are grateful for this overwhelming interest in our project and are confident that this signals the importance of Panther’s mission – enhancing freedom and privacy for DeFi and Web3.”

The Public Sale presents an opportunity for wider community engagement and participation in an end-to-end privacy protocol for DeFi and Web3 users.

Panther Protocol provides DeFi users with fully collateralized privacy-enhancing digital assets, leveraging crypto-economic incentives and zkSNARK technology.

Zero-knowledge zAssets can be minted by depositing digital assets from any blockchain into Panther vaults in a way that ensures complete privacy for its users.

Panther is currently building on Ethereum, Polygon, Flare, Songbird, NEAR and Elrond with the goal of creating a private-by-default, decentralized ecosystem.

The protocol will allow builders to provide privacy features within their apps without needing a highly specialized team of cryptographers and privacy tech engineers to do so.

Anish Mohammed, Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Panther Protocol co-founder, commented: “As with duality of light, privacy has a dual nature, we are in the history of privacy where we are just reconciling, privacy’s dual nature. Panther protocol has managed to allow both privacy and authenticity, by combining zero knowledge proof systems and selective disclosures.”

In September, Panther announced it was building its MVP on Polygon as it aims to bring interoperable privacy and compliance-friendly selective disclosure methods onto the network.

On the other hand, Polygon would be actively hand-holding the development of the MVP, provide client and technical support and also help Panther to work with applications and projects on the Polygon network and help in the transition towards a private and compliant DeFi ecosystem.

It may be remembered that Polygon and the zero-knowledge protocol Hermes had merged recently at which time Polygon had said that it was planning to enter into the zero-knowledge space in a very big way.

“Polygon’s approach brings scalable, low-cost transactions to the Ethereum network as well as a burgeoning ecosystem of DeFi protocols already using their technology. Panther’s partnership will enable zAsset utility between all Panther users in a privacy-preserving, scalable and regulatory compatible fashion – opening the doors for true institutional adoption and retail usage,” said CEO Oliver Gale at the time.

The ZKP token of Panther will be launched only on Polygon and the tokens will then be bridged over through the interoperable capabilities of Polygon.

Polygon was chose for the MVP due to its high technical capabilities, very low gas fees, and also due to the thriving dApp ecosystem within the network.

This is indeed a shot in the arm for Polygon which has always been viewed as a substitute for Ethereum but is slowly beginning to make a name for itself so much so that many developers and users are now beginning to choose Polygon over Ethereum for their transactions and project due to its low gas fees but also due to the reliability that the underlying Ethereum network offers.