DoubleZero Valued at $400 Million in Latest Funding Round

TLDR

• DoubleZero is creating a specialized network using private fiber connections for blockchain systems
• The project has raised $28 million at a $400 million valuation from Dragonfly and Multicoin Capital
• Co-founded by Austin Federa (former Solana Foundation executive) with Andrew McConnell and Mateo Ward
• Testnet is live in seven major cities with mainnet planned for late 2025
• Current fiber contributors include Jump Crypto, Distributed Global, RockawayX, Teraswitch and Latitude.sh

A startup called DoubleZero is building what it describes as a “new internet” for blockchain systems. The company plans to roll out its main network in the second half of 2025. This comes after it raised $28 million from investors and launched a test version.

The DoubleZero Network aims to create an option beyond the regular internet for blockchain operations. The system lets network operators share unused bandwidth on a network made just for blockchains and similar systems. This was shared in a March 5 announcement from the DoubleZero Foundation.

Austin Federa leads the project after working as the Solana Foundation Strategy Lead for four years until December. He started DoubleZero with crypto business leaders Andrew McConnell and Mateo Ward. The trio believes that current networks hold back blockchain performance.

Federa explained the project on X (formerly Twitter) on March 5. He said DoubleZero brings private network technology to blockchain systems. The network will belong to those who run it and welcomes anyone with fiber connections.

“Faster is better, but faster alone is not enough. Faster must include the ability for everyone on the network to have the same access to data as everyone else,” Federa wrote. He called this approach “fairness” and “the future” of blockchain networks.

The DoubleZero team sees their work as a long-term project. Federa thinks it will become key technology for distributed systems over the next 50 years. The focus is on solving network problems rather than computing limits.

“We’ve reached a point where the bottleneck for blockchain is actually on the network and data transport layer, not the compute,” he said. “We see a near future that’s fully underpinned by distributed systems.”

People close to the deal shared that the $28 million funding round valued DoubleZero at $400 million. The investment was led by two crypto venture firms: Multicoin Capital and Dragonfly Capital. The money will help hire more people to launch the main network this year.

These sources also mentioned that DoubleZero is looking for more “strategic partners” to invest at a higher $600 million valuation. This new investment round hasn’t finished yet. Many venture firms are competing hard to get a share of the project.

Along with the funding news, the foundation launched a test network for Solana validators and RPCs. This test is running in seven cities around the world: Singapore, Tokyo, Los Angeles, New York, London, Amsterdam and Frankfurt. More cities will join when the main network launches.

Building a Global Fiber Network

The current testing phase aims to make the system work better and handle more users. The test will help prepare for the full launch expected in the second half of 2025. Several companies are already providing fiber connections to the network.

The current fiber contributors include Jump Crypto, Distributed Global, RockawayX, and infrastructure companies Teraswitch and Latitude.sh. These partners form the backbone of the initial network setup.

The technology has been tested without much publicity at major events. During Solana’s Breakpoint conference last September, Jump Crypto showed off their fast Solana client called Firedancer. What they didn’t tell people was that the validators in the demo were using DoubleZero’s infrastructure.

The approach DoubleZero is taking looks a lot like what happens in high-frequency trading on Wall Street. There, trading companies spend large amounts on special fiber lines to save tiny fractions of a second when placing orders. These milliseconds can mean millions in profits.

Infrastructure company Helius made an interesting comparison about how DoubleZero works. They said it’s like choosing between a private car service and an Uber. Both get you to your destination but the private option is faster and more reliable.

Open to All Blockchains

Despite coming from a Solana background, Federa says the project works with any blockchain. “I think the Solana community has very clearly said, ‘We would like to go beyond what’s possible on the public internet,’” he said during a recent online discussion. But he stressed that DoubleZero is “completely compatible” with all blockchains.

The DoubleZero team structure puts Federa as the Foundation’s President. McConnell and Ward lead the core contributor company called Malbec Labs. Jump Crypto is also a key contributor and has provided some of the first bandwidth for the network.

Instead of buying or building expensive infrastructure themselves, DoubleZero plans to work with independent communications businesses. These partners can make money from their unused resources by supporting the network.

The test network is now open to Solana validators and RPCs. The plan is to add more blockchain networks as the system grows and moves toward the main launch. This approach allows for gradual scaling while testing real-world performance.

The concept draws from proven techniques in financial markets. “We’re just getting to the point where blockchains are fast enough to make use of that,” Federa explained when comparing the system to dedicated fiber lines used by trading firms.

With its recent funding and growing partner list, DoubleZero aims to solve what it sees as the next major hurdle for blockchain technology – the limits of data transport rather than computing power. The test network represents the first public step toward this goal.