Zama describes itself as an open-source cryptography company that has built the Zama Confidential Blockchain Protocol, a cross-chain confidentiality layer that enables confidential smart contracts on existing public blockchains using advanced encryption technology. The ZAMA token is the protocol's native ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain, used for staking, governance, and network participation.

Project Function

The Zama protocol operates as an encryption-based confidentiality layer that sits on top of existing Layer 1 and Layer 2 blockchains, starting with Ethereum. It allows developers to deploy smart contracts that can process encrypted state without exposing underlying data. Zama also maintains an open-source library stack (TFHE-rs, Concrete compiler, and the encrypted EVM) available to external developers building privacy-preserving applications.

Token Utility

The ZAMA token is an ERC-20 token on Ethereum with a total supply of 11 billion and a circulating supply of approximately 2.2 billion. It is used within the Zama ecosystem for:

• Staking: Token holders stake ZAMA to access protocol services and participate in network security.
• Governance: Holders vote on protocol parameters and ecosystem decisions through on-chain governance.
• Ecosystem participation: ZAMA is used in the encryption verification network and associated reward mechanisms.

About the Founders

Zama was co-founded by Dr. Rand Hindi (CEO) and Dr. Pascal Paillier (CTO), alongside Chief Academic Officer Prof. Nigel Smart and Chief Scientist Dr. Marc Joye. The legal entity is ZAMA Switzerland AG, registered in Zug, Switzerland. The company employs over 96 people across 26 nationalities, of whom 37 hold PhDs. The project has raised over $150 million at a $1.2 billion valuation, with investors including Multicoin Capital, Protocol Labs, Pantera Capital, and Blockchange Ventures.

Risks of ZAMA

Like an investment in other crypto assets, there are some general risks to investing in ZAMA. These include: (i) volatility risk and liquidity risk, (ii) short history risk, (iii) demand risk, (iv) forking risk, (v) code defects, (vi) regulatory risk, (vii) electronic trading risk, and (viii) cyber security risk. For additional information of these and other general risks associated with crypto assets and Uphold's platform, please refer to the Risks Specific to Holding Digital Assets statement.

In addition to these general risks, an investment in ZAMA is subject to the following specific risks:

• Insider token concentration is significant: 20% team allocation and 20% investor allocation combined represent 40% of total supply. Once lockup periods expire, the release of these tokens into circulation could affect price stability.
• The ZAMA token launched in February 2026 and has a limited trading history. Price volatility has been elevated since TGE.
• While the ZAMA smart contract has been audited by Trail of Bits, smart contract audits do not guarantee the absence of vulnerabilities or future exploits. The encrypted EVM integration and on-chain encryption operations introduce additional smart contract surface area.
• The protocol's reliance on advanced encryption is technically novel and computationally intensive. Adoption by external developers is not guaranteed, and the protocol's long-term utility depends on third-party dApp development activity.
• Governance over protocol parameters is held by ZAMA token holders, but the founding team and ZAMA Switzerland AG control significant development and operational decisions. No fully decentralized governance mechanism has been established.

We emphasize that this Crypto Asset Statement is not an exhaustive description or summary of all risks associated with ZAMA. Investors should conduct their own research and perform their own assessment before trading any crypto asset to determine the appropriate level of risk for their personal circumstances.

The ZAMA community and ZAMA Switzerland AG are not under any legal or regulatory obligation to disclose material information to the public regarding its activities. Holders of ZAMA have no recourse to the ZAMA community, ZAMA Switzerland AG, or Uphold if ZAMA declines in value for any reason.

Changes to applicable law may adversely affect the use, transfer, exchange, or value of any of your crypto assets, and such changes may be sudden and without notice.

Uphold's Evaluation Process

Prior to listing ZAMA on the Uphold Platform, Uphold performed due diligence on ZAMA and determined that ZAMA is unlikely to be a security or derivative under relevant securities legislation. Uphold's analysis included reviewing publicly available information on the following:

• The creation, governance, usage, and design of ZAMA, including ensuring the source code is open-source, audited and peer reviewed, security, and roadmap for growth in the developer community.
• The supply, demand, maturity, utility, and liquidity of ZAMA.
• Any marketing materials put forward by the ZAMA social team including on X, Medium, LinkedIn posts, Discord and Telegram channels.
• Material technical risks associated with ZAMA, including any code defects, security breaches and other threats concerning ZAMA and its supporting blockchain.
• Legal and regulatory risks associated with ZAMA, including any pending, potential, or prior civil, regulatory, criminal, or enforcement action relating to the issuance, distribution, or use of ZAMA.