DoubleZero Secures $28 Million Funding to Advance Global Blockchain Network

Austin Federa, a key figure behind the DoubleZero project, recently expressed significant anticipation for "Rotor," stating in a tweet, "The folks building @doublezero are very excited for Rotor." This excitement comes as DoubleZero, a pioneering initiative focused on creating a high-performance global fiber network for distributed systems and blockchains, recently closed a substantial $28 million token funding round. The project aims to address critical bandwidth limitations and latency issues currently faced by high-throughput blockchain networks.

The $28 million token round was co-led by prominent venture capital firms Multicoin Capital and Dragonfly Capital, with additional participation from investors including Foundation Capital and Reciprocal Ventures. This funding round, which valued DoubleZero at an estimated $400 million, is earmarked for strategic hiring in marketing, developer relations, and business development, as the company prepares to transition from its testnet beta phase to a public mainnet later this year.

DoubleZero's core innovation lies in its "N1 protocol," which establishes a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN). This network leverages underutilized private dark fiber links and contributions from major network operators to create a meshed transport layer. By filtering and serving traffic across low-latency, high-bandwidth routes, DoubleZero aims to enable blockchain systems to achieve dramatically higher performance without compromising decentralization. Its unique dual-ring architecture separates spam filtering from consensus processing, significantly reducing latency and boosting throughput.

The protocol's impact extends across various blockchain components, including Layer 1 blockchains like Solana, Layer 2 solutions, RPC nodes, and Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) systems. DoubleZero offloads transaction filtration from validators, allowing them to focus on block production and execution, thereby improving efficiency and scalability. The project's permissioned testnet is already live in seven global cities, with plans to expand to additional metro areas for the mainnet launch.

Founded by Austin Federa, former head of strategy at the Solana Foundation, alongside Andrew McConnell and Mateo Ward, DoubleZero is positioned to redefine how blockchains communicate at the physical network layer. Beyond blockchain, the technology holds promise for other distributed systems requiring low-latency, high-bandwidth communication, such as online gaming, large language models, and content delivery networks. The continued development, including milestones like "Rotor," underscores the team's commitment to building a faster, more resilient internet layer for the decentralized future.