LayerZero Labs has officially entered the Layer 1 race with the announcement of Zero, a new blockchain network aimed directly at institutional finance.
Key Takeaways
LayerZero Labs unveiled Zero, a new Layer 1 blockchain built for institutional financial markets.
Major players including Citadel Securities, ARK Invest, ICE, Google Cloud, and DTCC are backing or collaborating on the project.
The network targets up to 2 million TPS per zone, with mainnet planned for Fall 2026.
ZRO jumped about 13% after the announcement, though concerns remain over token allocation and execution risk.
The launch was confirmed on February 10, 2026, marking a strategic pivot from interoperability infrastructure toward building a full-scale execution layer designed for global capital markets.
Unlike general-purpose chains targeting retail users and DeFi traders, Zero is being positioned as what the company calls a decentralized multicore world computer. The objective is clear: address scalability bottlenecks and privacy limitations that continue to prevent traditional financial institutions from fully migrating to blockchain-based systems.
Institutional Heavyweights Join the Initiative
Zero’s unveiling comes with backing from some of the most influential names in finance and technology.
Citadel Securities has taken a strategic position in the ZRO token and is working alongside the project on trading infrastructure, including clearing and settlement mechanics. This signals a strong focus on real-world market structure rather than purely experimental crypto use cases.
ARK Invest, led by Cathie Wood, is investing in both LayerZero equity and the ZRO token. Wood has also joined the advisory board, suggesting long-term strategic involvement.
Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the NYSE, is exploring how Zero could facilitate continuous 24/7 trading – a major structural shift from traditional market hours.
On the technology side, Google Cloud is collaborating to test AI-driven micropayments and automated resource trading systems that could operate without traditional bank accounts.
Meanwhile, DTCC is engaging with the project to help shape next-generation digital securities infrastructure.
Built for Scale and Privacy
From a technical standpoint, Zero is targeting performance metrics rarely seen in blockchain networks.
The architecture relies on a heterogeneous model that separates execution from verification, an approach designed to avoid the throughput constraints that plague monolithic chains. Using zkVM Jolt technology, the network aims to process up to 2 million transactions per second per “zone.”
ZRO will serve as both the native and governance token, facilitating interoperability across Zero’s internal zones and more than 165 connected blockchains within the broader LayerZero ecosystem.
While the mainnet is not expected to be fully operational until Fall 2026, the announcement alone has already triggered strong market reactions.
ZRO Price Jumps as Analysts Urge Caution
Following the reveal, the ZRO token climbed roughly 13% on February 11, outperforming much of the broader crypto market.
However, not everyone is fully convinced. Analysts have flagged concerns over the project’s token distribution model, noting that approximately 58% of the supply remains internally allocated. Additionally, some of the core technologies are still in exploratory stages, raising questions about execution risk ahead of the mainnet launch.
Still, the scale of institutional engagement suggests Zero is not merely another Layer 1 contender. If successful, it could become a bridge between traditional finance and blockchain-based settlement systems – potentially redefining how global markets operate in a 24/7, programmable environment.
