How it works

How to participate in the Zama Public Auction.

Auction process

1

Registration

Starts on January 9, 2026 Register here: auction.zama.org/register

To participate in the Zama Public Auction, you must first register to verify your identity and wallet address.

• Registration is mandatory for all participants

• Only approved wallets can place bids

Wallet compatibility

Smart wallets like SAFE, Base and others that implement account abstraction features are currently incompatible with some features of the Zama auction platform.

Please use a non-smart wallet for the auction.

2

Bidding

Starts on January 21, 2026 at 8:00 AM UTC Ends on January 24, 2026 at 8:00 PM UTC Join the auction: auction.zama.org

To place sealed bids, you have to use Confidential USDT(cUSDT) token.

Bidding process:

1. Shield USDT

   • Use the "Shield" function in the auction app to convert standard USDT stablecoins 1:1 into Confidential USDT(cUSDT), enabling encrypted bidding.

   • The shielding transaction is recorded onchain with the amount publicly visible, while all transactions using cUSDT afterwards remain confidential.

2. Decrypt balance

   • You can decrypt your cUSDT at any time to view your available balance in the auction application.

   • Only the wallet that shielded the USDT is allowed to decrypt balance.

   • After any transaction (e.g. shielding, placing a bid, updating a bid, or receiving a refund), your encrypted balance changes and thus requires a decryption to reflect the updated amount.

3. Place bids

   • Specify the price per token and token amount to submit a bid.

   • The bids are sealed: the price per token is public, while the token amount and total payment are encrypted with FHE.

   • You can submit up to 10 sealed bids

Invalid bids

If the total value of a bid exceeds your available cUSDT balance, that bid will be invalid and the bidding funds will be returned.

Invalid bids still count toward this limit. You should cancel them to free up the slots.

3

Resolution

Starts on January 24, 2026 Ends on February 1, 2026

After the auction closes, bids are filled from highest price to lowest. The lowest price at which a bid is filled becomes the clearing price.

All participants who successfully bid above that price will thus end up paying the same clearing price. The entire calculation is performed using FHE.

There are three possible outcomes:

• Bid above the clearing price: User receives full allocation and a refund for any overpayment.

• Bid at the clearing price: If quantity exceeds remaining supply at that exact price, user receives a pro-rata share of tokens and a refund for the remainder.

• Bid below the clearing price: User receives no tokens and get a full refund.

4

Claiming and refunds

Starts on February 2, 2026 Claiming platform will open soon

Once the resolution is finalized, all winners receive tokens at the same clearing price. Participants can claim both their $ZAMA tokens and the refund for unsuccessful bids.

$ZAMA will be distributed as standard ERC-20 tokens, and refunds can be claimed either as ERC-20 (USDT) or as confidential ERC-7984 (cUSDT).

All claimed tokens are fully unlocked and can be spent, transferred, staked or delegated to operators immediately.

Auction example

Imagine there are 1,000 $ZAMA tokens to be sold, and that you have three people bidding: Alice, Bob and Charlie.

Bidding phase

• Alice bids 400 $ZAMA tokens at a price of $5 each. She pays $2,000 for it.

• Bob bids 600 $ZAMA tokens at a price of $4 each. He pays $2,400 for it.

• Charlie bids 300 $ZAMA tokens at a price of $3 each. He pays $900 for it.

Clearing price and allocation

At the end of the bidding period, the auction smart contract goes from the highest bid price to the lowest price to allocate tokens to each participant:

• Alice is the highest bidder. She gets her 400 tokens. There are 600 tokens left to allocate.

• Bob is the second highest bidder. He gets his 600 tokens. There are 0 tokens left to allocate. As such, the clearing price is what Bob bid at, i.e. $4 per token.

• Charlie’s bid is under the clearing price, and thus he receives no allocation.

Claiming tokens and refunds

Now that the clearing price is defined, Alice, Bob and Charlie can claim their tokens and refund:

• Alice receives 400 $ZAMA token and a refund for 400 $USD, corresponding to the difference between what she paid at $5 per token and the clearing price of $4 per token.

• Bob receives 600 $ZAMA tokens and no refund, as he paid exactly the clearing price.

• Charlie gets no $ZAMA tokens and a full refund of 900 $USD.