# Aleo

> Aleo: Privacy L1. Technology: zero-knowledge proofs.

Part of the Soda Labs Privacy Hub, a neutral directory of the on-chain privacy
landscape: https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub

## Key facts

- Entry type: Privacy project
- Category: Privacy L1
- Technology: Zero-knowledge proofs (ZK)
- Website: https://aleo.org
- Tags: ZK, L1
- Canonical page: https://www.sodalabs.xyz/privacy-hub/aleo

## Overview

Aleo is one of the very few teams to have shipped a zero-knowledge Layer 1 with a full stack of its own. Leo, a purpose-built language for writing private applications, runs on snarkVM, its own execution environment, with proofs generated off chain so program state is private by default rather than by opt-in. The cryptography is well regarded by people who read it closely, and mainnet has been running since 2024. Building here means writing for that stack rather than porting existing contracts across, the token has traded well below its launch levels since, and a 2024 mailing error sent some users' identity documents to the wrong recipients.

## About Zero-knowledge proofs

One party proves a statement about hidden data is true without revealing the data the statement is about. Compared side by side with the other approaches at https://www.sodalabs.xyz/taxonomy.

## Sources

- [Developer docs](https://developer.aleo.org)
- [snarkVM, the execution layer](https://github.com/ProvableHQ/snarkVM)
- [State of Aleo](https://messari.io/report/state-of-aleo-q1-2025)
- [2024 user-data incident](https://cointelegraph.com/news/privacy-focused-aleo-users-concerned-after-kyc-documents-leak)

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