ZRO, the native token of the LayerZero omnichain interpretation protocol, has skyrocketed by over 40% over the past day following the announcement of a up-to-date Layer 1 (L1) blockchain backed by major institutional players.
LayerZero introduces Zero Blockchain
LayerZero Labs on Tuesday announced up-to-date L1 blockchain, Zero, aimed at institutional financial markets. It is expected to launch in fall 2026 and will consist of three initial “zones,” described as permit-free environments that are fully owned and managed by the core network, according to the announcement.
Furthermore, ZRO will serve as the network’s native token, ensuring interoperability between the Zones and over 165 connected blockchains.
Designed to “eliminate long-standing scalability challenges in decentralized networks,” Zero is designed to process 2 million transactions per second (TPS) per zone and charge near-zero fees, eliminating four major bottlenecks.
“By using zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs to decouple execution from verification, Zero moves the network from redundant replication to a heterogeneous architecture” – LayerZero Labs explained on X
“This structural change allows for two distinct classes of validators: lightweight block validators that can run on low-end consumer hardware, and higher-performance optional block producers,” he continued.
Bryan Pellegrino, CEO of LayerZero Labs, confirmed that the Zero architecture accelerates industry development by at least a decade. “We believe that thanks to this technology we can actually connect the entire world economy in a chain. Our mission is to build permissionless infrastructure for a better world – this is the beginning of this world,” he added.
Zero receives a lot of institutional support
The implementation was supported by key institutional players including Citadel Securities, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), ARK Invest, Google Cloud and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).
Specifically, Citadel Securities is collaborating to evaluate how its technology can be applied to trading, clearing and settlement workflows. Additionally, he made a strategic investment in ZRO.
ARK Invest becomes a shareholder of LayerZero equity and ZRO. Meanwhile, Cathie Wood, the company’s CEO and CIO, has joined LayerZero’s up-to-date advisory board along with Michael Blaugrund, vice president of Strategic Initiatives at ICE, and Caroline Butler, former head of digital assets at BNY Mellon.
“This is a historic opportunity at the intersection of finance and the Internet. I’m excited to join LayerZero’s advisory board and help accelerate the adoption of Zero by the world’s largest markets and companies,” Wood said in a statement.
DTCC will explore the Zero Blockchain architecture to enhance the scalability of the DTC tokenization and security management service, while ICE will examine it for 24/7 trading and tokenized security.
Additionally, Google Cloud has partnered to explore how to enable AI agents to instantly make micropayments and trade resources. Tether too announced on Tuesday, a separate strategic investment in LayerZero Labs.
The price of ZRO is rising rapidly
On this news, ZRO surged more than 40% in the last 24 hours, hitting a four-month high of $2.59 on Wednesday morning. The cryptocurrency has been trading between $1.50 and $2.00 over the past few weeks, hitting a local low of $1.35 during last week’s crash.
Now, recent momentum has pushed LayerZero back above the $2.00 area towards a major resistance area. Since June, the cryptocurrency has been unable to regain the $2.60 level as it has been rejected from this area after each retest.
If ZRO recovers to $2.60, it could target the next major resistance located around $3.00. Crypto Analyst Tony confirmed that if the cryptocurrency clears this level, “we are good for $3.30. Wave 3 begins.”
At the time of writing, ZRO is trading at $2.45, up 36.5% on a weekly basis.
Featured image from Unsplash.com, chart from TradingView.com
