Citadel and Ark Invest back LayerZero as it launches blockchain, partners with Google Cloud and DTCC

LayerZero is launching a new Layer 1 blockchain called Zero, with backing from Citadel Securities and Ark Invest.

"We believe we can actually bring the entire global economy onchain with this technology," LayerZero Labs CEO Bryan Pellegrino said Tuesday in a statement. "Our mission is to build permissionless infrastructure for a better world."

LayerZero said both Citadel Securities and Ark had made strategic investments, acquiring the protocol's native ZRO token. Although Citadel Securities, directly or through affiliates, has invested in crypto firms such as Kraken and Ripple, token purchases are not typical for the firm.

"Citadel Securities is collaborating with LayerZero to provide market structure expertise and evaluate how its technology could apply to trading, clearing and settlement workflows that require high performance and reliability," according to a statement.

While Citadel Securities backs the popular cross-chain protocol creator LayerZero, it has in the past sought to influence how the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regulates DeFi protocols. In a letter last year, the firm told the SEC it should not exempt DeFi protocols from being regulated as an "exchange" and "broker-dealer."

On top of buying ZRO tokens, Cathie Wood-led Ark also became an equity shareholder in LayerZero. "This is a historic opportunity at the intersection of finance and the internet," Wood said in a statement.

Google Cloud and DTCC partners

LayerZero also announced a new partnership with Google Cloud.

"As AI agents start to become economic actors, the programmability of cryptocurrencies and blockchains will require infrastructure as reliable as the cloud itself," Google Cloud's Head of Web3 Strategy Richard Widmann said. "LayerZero is rethinking how blockchains work from the ground up. By pairing their expertise with our infrastructure, we are exploring how to expand the definition of the internet to include value."

Additionally, DTCC, which is actively working on tokenizing liquid assets like stocks, ETFs, and Treasurys, also partnered with LayerZero in the hopes of improving security, scalability, and interoperability.

"DTCC has been driving acceptance and adoption of digital assets, but realizing the full potential of blockchain technology has been elusive due to limitations in speed and scale," DTCC's President and CEO Frank La Salla said.

The New York Stock Exchange's parent company, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc., said it plans to examine how LayerZero's Layer 1 chain Zero might support 24/7 trading.

With the Zero blockchain, LayerZero said it becomes the first to introduce a heterogeneous architecture that is "scalable to 2 million transactions per second" and "~100,000x faster performance and greater throughput than Ethereum and ~500x more than Solana."

Earlier today, Tether made a strategic investment in LayerZero Labs as part of its support for interoperability infrastructure.