The market is shifting. We are at a defining moment where institutional capital and traditional finance (TradFi) are entering the tokenization space. For these players, the absolute transparency of public blockchains presents a fundamental hurdle.

We have now reached a stage where performance, network scalability, and even transaction costs are no longer the primary barriers to adoption. Blockchains such as Arbitrum, Solana, Avalanche, and Base have demonstrated their ability to process high volumes at low cost. The real challenge now lies in the availability of confidentiality mechanisms that are usable, auditable, and compatible with existing standards, whether for widely adopted blockchains or already circulating assets such as existing ERC-20 tokens.

Leading asset managers such as BlackRock and Franklin Templeton are already building tokenized funds, signaling a clear shift from experimentation to production-grade adoption. This momentum points to a much larger opportunity: up to $30T in financial assets could ultimately move on-chain, yet adoption remains constrained by confidentiality and compliance limitations.

👉 Institutions cannot broadcast their intent, sensitive trade data, or client information to the world without violating fiduciary duties or risking front-running. They require a critical layer that has been missing from the DeFi equation: Confidentiality.

Institutions require privacy that is Composable, Interoperable, and Auditable, not mere anonymity. iExec is aligning its roadmap with this market evolution toward Institutional DeFi and Asset Tokenization. Confidentiality and Privacy that serves as an enabler for institutions to tokenize their assets at scale. iExec is stepping forward as the privacy tools provider of choice.

2025 Highlights: Building the Base for Scale

2025 was about proving that privacy can be easily accessible. We successfully laid the groundwork for secure tools that are simple to integrate.‍

• ‍Live on Arbitrum: We achieved significant adoption momentum by deploying on top of the Arbitrum ecosystem, with builders like Otomato and ApeBond already utilizing the stack. This unlocked secure, scalable, and user-friendly privacy features for one of crypto's most active ecosystems.

• DevX Tooling Upgrades:We brought the power of confidential computing directly to the terminal. Our iApp Generator tool bootstraps the entire development process by generating essential boilerplate code, allowing builders to scaffold, test, and deploy iApps inside secure enclaves in minutes. By reducing setup friction, it empowers builders to move from "Hello World" to production-ready deployment with full control and minimal complexity.‍
• iExec Confidential Messaging: Web3Mail and Web3Telegram are privacy-preserving communication SDKs that allow dApps to message wallet holders using only an Ethereum address, without ever accessing users’ real email addresses or Telegram chat IDs in clear; all contact data is processed inside TEEs, stored as Protected Data on iExec, and remains fully under user control through explicit, revocable permissions.‍
• Bulk Processing Power: We matured the developer experience to handle more data. with less effort. Through our bulk processing upgrades, builders can process 1 to 100 protected datasets in a single secure task. This allows for scaling data-heavy DeFi workflows without added complexity.

Ecosystem Expansion & Partnerships

‍In 2025, iExec significantly expanded its ecosystem through strategic partnerships that reinforce our positioning at the intersection of privacy, confidential computing, and AI. These collaborations accelerate real adoption and extend the capabilities built on iExec’s TEE-native stack.

• ‍Aethir: Partnering with Aethir’s decentralized GPU and CPU network to support large-scale confidential computing workloads, enabling privacy-preserving AI and TEE deployments with enterprise-grade performance.‍
• AI Unbundled Alliance: Joined the AI Unbundled Alliance alongside leading ecosystem players such as Chainlink, IoTeX, Plume, and others. This positions iExec as a core privacy layer within the emerging modular AI stack and reinforces our role as trusted confidential infrastructure.‍
• AR.IO: Enabled encrypted data storage on Arweave, seamlessly integrated into iExec’s Confidential Messaging tools. This unlocks permanent, censorship-resistant, and privacy-preserving communication use cases for Web3.‍
• ChainGPT: Collaborating on confidential AI model training to support ChainGPT’s AI and Agents framework, bringing privacy guarantees to next-generation AI workflows and autonomous agents.‍
• DeXe: Engaged in early-stage exploration around the use of confidential computing to improve DAO governance and coordination mechanisms.

Alongside these initiatives, iExec expanded its ecosystem by reinforced builders adoption and traction through targeted ecosystem support. The iExec Ecosystem Fund, backed by 1,000,000 $RLC, was dedicated to empowering projects integrating iExec’s privacy stack across AI, DeFi, RWA, and adjacent use cases. This was complemented by a $100K co-grant program with ar.io, focused on Confidential Messaging integrations.

Together, these partnerships reflect a clear market signal: confidential computing is moving from experimentation to production, and iExec is becoming a foundational layer for privacy-first Web3 and AI applications.

2026 Direction: Confidential DeFi & RWA

DeFi was born with the introduction of smart contracts on Ethereum. For the first time, financial logic could be executed programmatically on-chain without intermediaries. What started as simple primitives “on-chain lending, automated trading, and stablecoins” has since evolved into a global financial system processing billions in value and supporting increasingly complex market structures. The movement was later branded as Decentralized Finance for short “DeFi”, gaining traction and velocity within the crypto industry.

Today, DeFi processes billions in daily transaction activity, with over $100B in total value locked according to DeFiLlama, and sustained volumes across DEXs, perps, and stablecoins. This growth proves that programmable, composable finance works at scale, across cycles, and without centralized control.

Yet, the same fundamentals that enabled early DeFi to scale, now limits its next phase. In traditional finance, balances, positions, and execution strategies are private by default. Money is the most sensitive asset in any financial system, and exposing it publicly is incompatible with institutional usage, payments, and real-world capital flows.

👉 If DeFi is to bridge Web2 and Web3 finance, confidentiality must become a native feature of on-chain value.

This is why, in 2026, iExec is positioning itself as the privacy layer for the next DeFi revolution by enabling verifiable and confidential on-chain execution through easy-to-use and modular tools. This will be backed by a strong chain of trust, better user experience and a usage-driven $RLC value economy.

The next generation of DeFi requires institutional-grade confidentiality.

Our Confidential DeFi vision was validated through direct builder engagement. At ETHRome, iExec supported a Confidential DeFi hackathon, resulting in 14 projects experimenting with private execution and protected financial workflows using the iExec privacy stack. In parallel, we conducted extensive market research and interviews with DeFi leaders, builders, and partners.

This approach was further expanded through Nocturne, a project developed by iExec at ETHGlobal Buenos Aires, focused on confidential RWA tokenization with deployments across Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Base.

This momentum continues with Hack4Privacy, a builder sprint run in collaboration with 50Partners, focused on Confidential DeFi and RWA use cases. Over two dynamic weeks, from January 27 to February 7, builders will explore new ideas, experiment with confidential computing, and design impactful privacy-preserving DeFi & RWA solutions.

These discussions consistently highlighted practical constraints around confidentiality, auditability, and integration complexity. The insights gathered from both hands-on experimentation and field research, directly shaped the scope, priorities and our roadmap for 2026.

Our 2026 strategy pursues two focused tracks:

1. Confidential DeFi Positioning

In the first half of 2026, we will introduce a specialized Confidential DeFi product designed for any DeFi project that operates on-chain financial workflows where public balances or transfers create regulatory or competitive risk.This product will fulfill the rigorous demands of regulated finance and bridges the gap between regulatory mandates and the permissionless nature of DeFi.

2. Institutional-Grade RWA Integration and Usage-Driven Economic Flows

Tokenizing RWAs involves sensitive off-chain data, such as property deeds and company financials, that must remain confidential. We are working with established players and institutions to address these needs in practice. By leveraging the iExec stack, we securely process this sensitive data without ever exposing it, providing a vital bridge for high-value real-world assets on-chain.

Ultimately, our suite of 2026 tools is built to be:

• ‍Composable: Designed to function as modular "money legos" that can be easily combined with existing DeFi protocols.‍
• Interoperable: Engineered to work across different chains and legacy systems, ensuring privacy doesn't create silos.‍
• Auditable: Providing the necessary "glass-box" transparency for regulators to verify compliance without exposing data to the public.

To scale our capabilities for the most demanding DeFi use cases, we are focusing on four core technical pillars:

1. ‍Production-Grade Confidential Execution with TDX: The completion of this major upgrade will significantly expand the scope and variety of privacy-preserving applications we can support. By integrating Intel TDX, we provide a larger enclave boundary and modern Trusted Execution Environment and attestation mechanisms, strengthening the verifiable trust in every computation.‍
2. Chain of Trust Enhancements: We will improve how trust is established on the platform through stronger attestation protocols and enhanced public measurement capabilities. Coupled with our commitment to an open-source strategy, this will ensure a higher, verifiable standard of security and trust. In parallel, we will continue participating in industry-wide initiatives that enable third-party verification of hardware integrity, strengthening confidence in confidential execution environments without exposing sensitive data.‍
3. User Experience & Adoption Acceleration: UX is the main barrier to privacy adoption today. In 2026, we will prioritize simplifying confidentiality flows, reducing signature friction, and improving predictability of privacy states for end users. We will emphasize trust cues, auditability, and plain language confidentiality features to drive mainstream usage.‍
4. Performance, latency, and Cost Optimization: We will specifically target performance and cost improvements across the confidential compute stack, since latency and economic overhead are decisive adoption factors for DeFi and payments. This includes protocol-level work to reduce execution delays and improve scalability for high-frequency confidential transactions.

2026 is the year private DeFi scales with $RLC

2026 will mark the moment the industry shifts from experimental transparency to the auditable confidentiality required for institutional-scale finance.

As confidential DeFi and RWA use cases move into production, $RLC functions as the access layer of the iExec protocol.

As more confidential applications move into production, $RLC will circulate even more through concrete protocol usage: builders deploying confidential applications, protocols running protected financial logic, and institutions executing sensitive on-chain workloads. This usage-driven dynamic anchors the role of $RLC in real demand, supporting the next phase of adoption.

At the same time, liquidity and availability across both centralized and decentralized markets remain essential to back this activity at scale, ensuring $RLC can efficiently serve as the access layer for confidential DeFi and RWA use cases.

With the foundational success shipped in 2025, a clear two-track strategy for Confidential DeFi and RWA, and a significantly strengthened iExec stack, we are ready to supply the missing piece for the next wave of tokenized assets.

iExec is not just a privacy provider; we are the privacy foundation for real-world adoption ➡️ Delivering confidential, composable privacy and verifiable governance.

This is your invitation to build a more private, confidential future with us.

Add privacy where your money is.