Zama says a lending vault that only accepts confidential $USDC has grown into one of the largest $USDC vaults on Morpho’s Ethereum implementation, weeks after opening to savers.
According to a July 16 post from Zama, the Steakhouse Confidential Prime $USDC The vault contained $23.23 million in Ethereum block 25,544,806. The company said it ranked eighth in total deposits among Morpho V1 and V2 $USDC vaults on Ethereum. The ranking and deposit figure reflect Zama’s snapshot and may change as users deposit or withdraw funds.
https://t.co/9p5gqQ7EEu
— Zama (@zama) July 16, 2026
Confidential $USDC moves to the established DeFi infrastructure
The Steakhouse Confidential Prime $USDC the vault was opened on June 23. Steakhouse Financial manages the strategy, Morpho provides the credit infrastructure and Zama provides the confidentiality technology.
Users deposit confidentially $USDCor cUSDC, instead of default $USDC. Zama uses fully homomorphic encryption to keep individual balances and transaction amounts encrypted, while allowing the assets to communicate with applications on Ethereum. Deposits ultimately fit into a strategy that leverages the Morpho lending markets backed by collateral including cbBTC, WBTC and wstETH.
Zama points to $23.23 million TVL as a demand signal
Zama described the vault’s growth as evidence that users are willing to put capital into confidential financial infrastructure. The company said “capital is ready to flow through confidential channels,” while acknowledging that an ongoing stimulus program has also helped attract deposits.
The vault was launched with a twelve-week rewards program on top of the returns generated by the underlying Morpho strategy. Zama said the indigenous strategy returned about 4% when the product launched, while additional incentives rewarded early savers. The company had deposited more than $14 million by July 2 before the total reached the $23.23 million reported on July 16.
Morpho is attracting more institutional-style vault products
The Confidential Vault arrives as Morpho attracts asset managers, portfolios and professional curators. Bitwise launched its first onchain vault on Morpho in January, aimed at lending stablecoins through a non-custodial structure.
Morpho has also expanded through integrations with consumer wallets. As reported by crypto.news, Trezor has added access to Steakhouse-curated $USDC and USDT vaults in May. These developments place Zama’s product within an existing credit market rather than requiring users to move their liquidity to a separate blockchain.
Confidential financing still faces compliance questions
Zama is confidential $USDC system has already undergone a test involving the underlying stablecoin. In May, a US court order led Circle to temporarily freeze a Zama contract worth about $12.5 million in funds $USDC. The order was later revoked and Zama said the money was functioning normally again.
As previously reported, the episode prompted Zama to accelerate work on compliance and controlled disclosure tools. The company says its system encrypts transaction data rather than anonymizing users and is developing tools that can respond to legal and regulatory requirements.
Zama argues that its cross-chain confidentiality model can add privacy where liquidity already exists, rather than requiring a new Layer 1 or Layer 2. The $23.23 million vault offers an early test of that approach, although continued deposits after the stimulus program ends will provide a clearer measure of continued demand.