DoubleZero, an ambitious project in the blockchain infrastructure sector, has just completed a funding round of 28 million USD, raising its valuation to 400 million USD. This funding round was co-led by Multicoin Capital and Dragonfly Capital, with participation from many large funds such as Foundation Capital, Reciprocal Ventures, DBA, Borderless Capital, Superscrypt, and Frictionless.

But what makes DoubleZero a notable name in the crypto community? They are not building a new blockchain, nor developing a decentralized finance (DeFi) application. Instead, they focus on a factor that few pay attention to but is extremely important: physical infrastructure – a global fiber optic network dedicated to blockchain.

Solving the bandwidth problem for high-performance blockchain

Currently, speed and latency are two major factors affecting the scalability of blockchains. Most blockchains still rely on the public Internet to transmit data, resulting in limited bandwidth, inconsistent routing, and high latency between validators. This hinders the user experience from reaching the speed and smoothness of Web2.

#DoubleZero addresses this issue by linking independent fiber optic networks worldwide, creating a dedicated infrastructure that enables blockchains to achieve higher processing speeds and minimize latency. To accomplish this, they do not build or acquire their own fiber optic system but leverage resources from independent media companies – those with existing infrastructure that has not yet been fully utilized.

Kyle Samani, managing partner of Multicoin Capital, commented:

“Due to the bandwidth limitations of the public Internet, it is very difficult to provide a truly Web2 experience for blockchain. DoubleZero offers a breakthrough solution to reduce latency between validators.”

From testnet to mainnet: The expansion journey of DoubleZero

Along with the funding round, DoubleZero has officially launched the testnet, allowing Solana validators and RPC to experiment. This testnet is currently operating in seven major cities, including:

  • Singapore

  • Tokyo

  • Los Angeles

  • New York

  • London

  • Amsterdam

  • Frankfurt

Austin Federa, co-founder of DoubleZero and former Director of Strategy at Solana Foundation, stated:

“In the early stages, we deployed a permissioned testnet and brought Solana validators onto the network. Then, we will expand to a permissionless testnet.”

With the raised funds, DoubleZero will recruit key positions in marketing, developer relations, and business development. They expect to complete the transition from beta testnet to public mainnet in the latter half of this year.

DoubleZero and Solana: A Perfect Combination?

This project has not only its own value but is also expected to provide strong support for Solana. With the ambition to process one million transactions per second, $SOL is seeking to optimize infrastructure to achieve maximum performance. DoubleZero is the crucial piece that helps this blockchain realize its goals.

In reality, building a dedicated fiber optic network for crypto is no different from the bandwidth race of high-frequency trading firms on Wall Street. They spend millions of USD to build dedicated fiber optics, allowing their trades to be executed faster by just a few milliseconds. With blockchain, when speed and latency reach optimal levels, network performance will be elevated to a new height.

Austin Federa emphasizes:

“We are at a stage where blockchain is fast enough to leverage such physical infrastructure.”

Next step: Valuation of 600 million USD?

Although they have successfully raised 28 million USD, this is not the stopping point. According to internal sources, DoubleZero is planning to raise the next funding round with a valuation of 600 million USD.

This demonstrates investors' confidence in DoubleZero's model – a project that could completely change how #blockchain connect with each other, bringing crypto closer to the performance of Web2.

The Solana community has been spreading DoubleZero's motto: “Increase bandwidth, Reduce latency” since before the project's whitepaper was published last December. With strong momentum from investors and a clear strategic vision, DoubleZero stands before the opportunity to become one of the most important infrastructure companies in the blockchain space.

🚀 Can DoubleZero become the new backbone of crypto? The answer will be clearer when they launch the mainnet by the end of this year.