On Monday, Citadel Securities, the DTCC, the New York Stock Exchange, Google Cloud, ARK Invest, and Tether backed a single Layer 1 called Zero.

These aren’t institutions “exploring” blockchain. They’re the operating system of global capital and they just placed a bet on replacing their own plumbing. This is the most consequential infrastructure announcement in digital assets this year. Here’s why. [RELEASE]

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What happened

LayerZero launched Zero, a Layer 1 blockchain with backing from institutions that control the core plumbing of global finance. It will launch in Fall 2026. [Whitepaper] [Technical Positioning Paper]

Citadel Securities (processes one-third of U.S. retail equity orders) and ARK Invest (with Cathie Wood joining the advisory board) bought ZRO tokens directly. The DTCC ($3.7 quadrillion annual transaction volume) committed to evaluating Zero for its DTC Tokenization Service and Collateral App Chain.

Just three weeks ago, Intercontinental Exchange, parent of the NYSE, announced plans for a tokenized securities platform with 24/7 trading, marrying its Pillar matching engine to on-chain settlement. Google Cloud joined for infrastructure reliability and AI-driven payment systems. Tether brings $70B+ in cross-chain transfer volume.

Composition of the Zero Advisory Board: Cathie Wood (Founder and CEO of ARK Invest), Michael Blaugrund (VP of Strategic Initiatives at ICE), and Caroline Butler (former head of digital assets at BNY Mellon).