Crypto’s New Internet: A $400M Valuation and the Race for Speed! 🚀💰

by

In the grand theater of modern finance, where the stakes are as high as the ambitions of its players, the DoubleZero Foundation emerges—a fledgling startup, daring to construct a “new internet” that promises to elevate blockchain performance to dizzying heights. With a staggering $28 million raised, they now bask in the glow of a $400 million valuation, while casting their nets wide for “strategic partners” to further inflate this balloon to $600 million. Ah, the sweet scent of venture capital! 🍾

Leading the charge are the titans of investment, Dragonfly and Multicoin Capital, who have taken the helm of this initial funding round. Yet, whispers in the corridors suggest that the subsequent strategic round remains tantalizingly open, as firms scramble like children at a candy store for a taste of this elusive allocation. 🍬

DoubleZero, in a display of classic corporate discretion, has chosen to remain silent, perhaps pondering the weight of their newfound valuation. Such heights are rarefied air for crypto companies, yet not entirely without precedent for those peddling transformative visions. Their grand ambition? To weave a global tapestry of private fiber optic cables, enabling blockchains to transmit data with a swiftness that the public internet can only dream of. 🕸️

With a motto that echoes through the halls of the Solana community—“Increase bandwidth, Reduce Latency” (or IBRL for the acronym enthusiasts)—DoubleZero has captured imaginations even before the unveiling of their white paper last December. This project is heralded as the key to unlocking Solana’s audacious goal of processing one million transactions per second. Talk about a fast lane! 🏎️💨

As they prepare to unveil their permissioned testnet to Solana validators and RPCs, the anticipation builds. Their network, a veritable spider’s web of fiber optic cables, draws from the private lines operated by Jump Crypto, RockawayX, Distributed Global, Latitude, and Teraswitch, all while welcoming more contributors into the fold. The more, the merrier, right? 🎉

At the recent Solana Breakpoint conference, the Firedancer team from Jump Crypto showcased their lightning-fast Solana client, but the audience remained blissfully unaware that the validators were dancing on the DoubleZero infrastructure. A little sleight of hand, perhaps? 🎭

Leading this ambitious endeavor is Austin Federa, the former head of strategy at Solana Foundation, flanked by co-founders Andrew McConnell and Mateo Ward, who steer the ship of Malbec Labs, the project’s core contributor company. Jump Crypto, too, plays a pivotal role, offering early bandwidth to this burgeoning network.

Federa, with a twinkle in his eye, has dubbed DoubleZero “crypto’s first infrastructure project,” a nod to its heavy reliance on the physical—fiber optic cables crisscrossing land and sea. Instead of investing in this costly infrastructure, they cleverly enlist independent communications businesses, eager to monetize their underutilized assets. A win-win, or a gamble? 🎲

One cannot help but draw parallels to Wall Street’s infamous speed war, where trading firms poured fortunes into specialized fiber optic lines, all in the name of shaving milliseconds off their orders. Time is money, after all! ⏳💵

In a blog post, the infrastructure company Helius likened DoubleZero’s preferred data pipes to a private car service, while the open internet is likened to an Uber. Both will get you to your destination, but one does so with a flair for speed and predictability. 🚗💨

“The Solana community has made it abundantly clear: they wish to transcend the limitations of the public internet,” Federa proclaimed during a recent X Spaces, though he assured that DoubleZero remains “completely compatible” with any blockchain. Compatibility is key, after all! 🔑

He likened their system to the dedicated fiber lines of high-frequency trading firms, stating, “We’re just reaching the point where blockchains are fast enough to make use of that.” And so, the race continues, with DoubleZero at the forefront, ready to redefine the very fabric of our digital existence. 🏁

Read More

2025-03-06 02:46