Citadel Backs LayerZero’s New ‘Zero’ Blockchain for Institutional Markets

LayerZero Labs has announced the launch of Zero, a new Layer-1 blockchain designed specifically for institutional financial market infrastructure.

The initiative arrives with strategic backing from major market participants and infrastructure providers, signaling a deliberate push toward regulated capital markets integration rather than retail-driven adoption.

The project positions itself as a high-performance settlement and execution layer tailored to trading, clearing, and tokenized asset workflows.

Strategic Capital and Infrastructure Partnerships

Citadel Securities has made a strategic investment in the ZRO token and is collaborating with LayerZero to evaluate Zero’s architecture for high-throughput trading and post-trade settlement operations. The partnership focuses on testing whether blockchain infrastructure can support institutional-grade latency and reliability requirements.

ARK Invest has taken an equity position in LayerZero and exposure to $ZRO. CEO Cathie Wood has joined Zero’s advisory board, reinforcing the firm’s alignment with institutional blockchain adoption.

Google Cloud is exploring the use of Zero as an infrastructure layer for AI-driven micropayments and autonomous resource trading. The focus is on enabling programmable transactions without reliance on traditional bank account rails.

Meanwhile, Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) is evaluating the chain to enhance tokenization and collateral services, while Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is assessing its suitability for 24/7 tokenized markets and real-time settlement capabilities.

In parallel, Tether disclosed a strategic investment in LayerZero Labs on the same day as the Zero announcement.

Architecture Built for Institutional Throughput

Zero is described as a “multi-core world computer” that leverages zero-knowledge proofs and the Jolt zkVM to separate transaction execution from verification. By decoupling these processes, the system aims to reduce the redundant replication requirements typical of traditional blockchains.

The project claims a theoretical throughput of up to 2 million transactions per second by restructuring validation mechanics, positioning itself as a candidate for institutional-scale clearing environments.

The network will initially launch with three permissionless zones:

• A general-purpose EVM-compatible environment
• A privacy-focused payment system
• A dedicated trading venue

This modular structure is intended to support differentiated financial use cases while maintaining composability within a single base layer.

Timeline and Strategic Positioning

The Zero testnet is expected in the second quarter of 2026, with a mainnet launch targeted for fall 2026. The staged rollout reflects the technical and compliance demands associated with institutional deployment.

Rather than competing as a retail-oriented Layer-1, Zero appears positioned as infrastructure for regulated financial markets, tokenized collateral systems, and automated settlement flows.

The convergence of capital markets participants, clearing entities, and cloud infrastructure providers around the project suggests that the next wave of blockchain development may focus less on consumer adoption and more on integrating programmable settlement directly into traditional financial frameworks.

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