TLDR
- LayerZero unveiled ATLAS, a new exchange infrastructure layer built on its Zero blockchain.
- ATLAS combines trade matching, clearing, settlement and risk management into one system.
- ZRO token rose more than 16% after the announcement, trading near $1.26.
- LayerZero plans to use 75% of leftover Open ATLAS fees to buy and burn ZRO.
- The system is designed to serve trading venues, brokers and financial firms without competing with them.
LayerZero has introduced a new project called ATLAS. The system is built on Zero, the company’s own blockchain network. It is designed to give exchanges and financial firms the tools they need to run trading platforms.
The name ATLAS stands for Aggregated Trading, Liquidity and Settlement. LayerZero says it will act as a backend system rather than a public exchange. Companies that use it will keep control of their own users and interfaces.
How ATLAS Works
ATLAS brings several functions together in one place. These include trade matching, clearing, settlement and risk management. Many financial firms currently handle these tasks through separate systems.
The system runs on Zero, a network LayerZero launched earlier this year. Zero uses zero-knowledge proofs to check trades on the blockchain. The network was built with input from firms including Citadel Securities, ARK Invest, and the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation.
LayerZero says Zero can handle up to 2 million transactions per second. ATLAS will launch with support for 200,000 transactions per second. The company reports sub-millisecond median latency during testing so far.
ATLAS will come in two forms. Open ATLAS is meant for crypto apps, prediction markets and other public products. Institutional ATLAS will let operators set their own rules for who can trade.
Both versions use the same trading engine. Market creators using the system can list assets such as crypto tokens, stocks, bonds, commodities and prediction contracts.
What This Means for the ZRO Token
The ZRO token will play a central role in the new system. It will secure the Zero network through staking. It will also serve as the network’s gas and governance token.
Trading venues that stake ZRO can earn higher fee rebates on ATLAS. The top rebate tier requires a stake equal to as much as 1% of the total ZRO supply.
Open ATLAS will charge one trading fee. Rebates for venues will range between 20% and 65% based on their stake or trading volume.
After rebates are paid, 25% of remaining fees go to the market creator. LayerZero says the other 75% will be used to buy ZRO tokens and burn them permanently.
Following the announcement, ZRO jumped more than 16% within 24 hours. The token was trading near $1.26 after the news broke.
LayerZero co-founder and CEO Bryan Pellegrino said the goal was to build a neutral backend for a growing range of assets. He said the world’s asset base is expanding and trading is becoming more continuous across markets.
The ATLAS launch comes after a difficult stretch for LayerZero’s cross-chain business. In April, attackers drained about $292 million in rsETH from a bridge tied to Kelp DAO that used LayerZero’s technology.
LayerZero said the issue was limited to a single verifier setup used by Kelp DAO. The company said its core protocol was not affected. It later stopped supporting single-verifier bridge configurations.
Kelp DAO disputed parts of LayerZero’s explanation. It later moved rsETH to Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol. Other projects made similar moves in the weeks that followed.
Jack Melnick, who leads strategy for Zero and ATLAS, said ATLAS is the first product built on the Zero network. He compared the move to how custodian banks expanded into trading services over time.
LayerZero plans to launch ATLAS later this year. The company says its Omnichain Fungible Token standard has already processed more than $290 billion in cross-chain transfers.
