The Vault adds private stablecoin transfers with Hinkal

The Vault has integrated Hinkal's privacy layer into its digital asset custody platform, adding confidential stablecoin transactions for institutional clients.

Clients can now deposit, send and withdraw stablecoins privately within The Vault's existing custody environment. The integration also enables private settlement between counterparties without disclosing transaction amounts on public blockchains.

On public blockchains, balances and transfers are typically visible by default. For institutional users such as treasury teams, market makers and custody clients, that can expose positions, counterparty relationships and transaction flows to the wider market.

Hinkal's system uses smart contracts on public chains to let businesses hold confidential balances while retaining control through their existing wallet keys. Clients can continue using their current workflows and compliance controls while adding transaction privacy.

Selective disclosure

The companies described the offering as a form of selective disclosure rather than anonymity. Under the model, transaction activity remains hidden from competitors, unrelated counterparties and public observers, but can still be disclosed to auditors, regulators or approved counterparties through viewing keys when required.

That distinction may matter for institutions weighing stablecoin settlement tools against compliance obligations. Privacy in public blockchain markets has often drawn regulatory scrutiny, but the companies are positioning this approach as a way to shield commercially sensitive activity without preventing oversight.

"Privacy is not a feature you bolt on. It's infrastructure. Our clients operate at a scale where on-chain transparency is a competitive liability. Integrating Hinkal's privacy layer means The Vault can now offer confidential transactions as a native product capability, not a workaround," said Artem Stopnevich, Chief Executive Officer, The Vault.

Hinkal said its aim is to make privacy part of the products institutions already use rather than requiring a separate tool. The integration places its technology inside a custody platform aimed at professional and corporate digital asset users.

"Our goal has always been to make on-chain privacy feel native to the products institutions already use. Hinkal now powers confidential stablecoin transactions inside The Vault's custody platform, allowing clients to access privacy without changing their existing workflows and compliance controls. That is what turns privacy from a separate tool into a native institutional functionality," said Koreli.

Institutional focus

The Vault said it serves institutional clients across six segments, including corporate treasuries, financial institutions, professional asset managers, family offices and payment providers. It describes its platform as regulated in Switzerland and the European Union and says it covers custody, treasury operations and structured investments.

The addition of private stablecoin transfers suggests custody providers are seeking to differentiate themselves beyond safekeeping and execution by addressing information leakage on public networks. For many institutions, visible wallet balances and settlement flows can reveal trading intent, liquidity positions and commercial relationships.

Stablecoins have become a common means of moving value across digital asset markets and are increasingly used in treasury and payment operations. That has sharpened interest in tools that preserve confidentiality while remaining usable within standard compliance processes.

Hinkal said its infrastructure is deployed across public EVM chains, Solana, Tron, Tempo and Arc by Circle. It said it has processed more than USD $500 million in private volume and serves wallets, custody platforms, payroll companies, neobanks, exchanges, OTC desks, payment platforms and merchants.

Founded at Stanford in 2023, Hinkal said it has raised USD $6 million from investors including Draper Associates, SALT, NLH, NGC, PSALION and Aquanow. It also said its systems are live with seven completed security audits.

For custody clients, the immediate change is that confidential transfers are now available within the same platform they already use to hold and move assets.