Mysten Labs, the developer behind the Sui Layer-1 blockchain, has announced Tessera — a confidential settlement network built specifically for business-to-business invoice payments. Access is restricted to KYC-verified members, creating a permissioned environment where companies can settle payments privately while remaining compliant with regulatory requirements.

How Tessera Works

Tessera functions as a settlement layer enabling businesses to pay one another's invoices with confidentiality embedded directly into the protocol. Every participant must complete identity verification before transacting, a design choice aimed at resolving one of the primary barriers enterprises cite when evaluating blockchain-based payment infrastructure: the inherent tension between public transparency and commercial privacy.

The network keeps transaction details confidential among verified participants while drawing on the settlement finality of the underlying Sui blockchain. Tessera complements Mysten's existing Seal protocol, which provides on-chain encryption and access control.

Mysten Labs' Background and Scale

Founded in 2021 by former Meta engineers who had worked on the discontinued Diem project, the Palo Alto-based Mysten Labs raised $300 million at a valuation exceeding $2 billion.

The Sui network has processed over $1 trillion in stablecoin volume, positioning it as a payments infrastructure platform rather than solely a smart contract network competing for decentralized finance users.

Privacy and Compliance by Design

Tessera's architecture reflects Mysten's position that privacy and compliance are compatible — that confidential transactions can occur between parties who have already proven their identities. The model parallels traditional financial networks such as SWIFT, where banks transact through verified channels without publicly broadcasting individual transaction details. The distinction is that Tessera operates on blockchain infrastructure, which could provide faster settlement, reduced costs, and programmable payment logic.

Mysten has not disclosed a participant list or launch timeline, leaving the gap between announcement and adoption as an open question. The decision to require KYC verification also places Tessera within a broader industry shift toward regulated, permissioned blockchain products — a direction accelerated by enforcement actions against major exchanges and the introduction of frameworks such as the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, which took effect in 2024.

Competitive Landscape

Tessera enters a market that includes traditional payment processors Visa and Mastercard, both of which are developing their own blockchain settlement capabilities. JPMorgan's Onyx platform handles billions in daily transactions, while Circle's USDC ecosystem is actively targeting enterprise treasury teams. The global B2B payments market is projected to exceed $100 trillion in annual transaction value, underscoring the scale of opportunity for infrastructure providers that can combine blockchain-native programmability with the privacy guarantees that corporate treasury and procurement teams require.