ZRO, the native token of the omnichain interpretability protocol LayerZero, has skyrocketed more than 40% on the past day following the announcement of its new Layer-1 (L1) blockchain backed by major institutional players. Related Reading: XRP Positioned For Major Structure Shift As Price Tests Critical Level LayerZero Unveils Zero Blockchain On Tuesday, LayerZero Labs announced a new L1 blockchain, Zero, aimed at institutional financial markets. According to the announcement, it is set to launch in fall 2026, with three initial “zones,” described as permissionless environments fully owned and governed by the underlying network. Moreover, ZRO will serve as the network’s native token, providing interoperability between Zones and across the 165+ blockchains it connects. Designed to “eliminate the long-standing scalability challenges of decentralized networks,” Zero is set to process 2 million transactions per second (TPS) per Zone and charge near-zero fees by targeting four primary bottlenecks. “By leveraging Zero-Knowledge (ZK) proofs to decouple execution from verification, Zero transitions the network from redundant replication to a heterogeneous architecture,” LayerZero Labs explained on X. “This structural shift allows for two distinct validator classes: lightweight Block Validators capable of running on low-grade consumer hardware and optional higher performance Block Producers,” it continued. Bryan Pellegrino, CEO of LayerZero Labs, affirmed that Zero’s architecture advances the industry’s roadmap by at least a decade. “We believe we can actually bring the entire global economy onchain with this technology. Our mission is to build permissionless infrastructure for a better world – this is the beginning of that world,” he added. Zero Receives Major Institutional Backing The rollout was backed by key institutional players, including Citadel Securities, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), ARK Invest, Google Cloud, and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). Notably, Citadel Securities is collaborating to evaluate how its technology could apply to trading, clearing, and settlement workflows. Additionally, it made a strategic investment in ZRO. ARK Invest is becoming a shareholder of LayerZero equity and ZRO. Meanwhile, Cathie Wood, the company’s CEO and CIO, joined LayerZero’s new advisory board alongside Michael Blaugrund, VP of Strategic Initiatives at ICE, and Caroline Butler, former head of digital assets at BNY Mellon. “This is a historic opportunity at the intersection of finance and the internet. I am thrilled to join LayerZero’s advisory board and help accelerate the adoption of Zero by the largest markets and companies in the world,” Wood said in a statement. DTCC will investigate the Zero blockchain architecture to enhance the scalability of the DTC Tokenization Service and collateral management, while ICE will examine it for 24/7 trading and tokenized collateral. Moreover, Google Cloud partnered to explore how to enable AI agents to make micropayments and trade resources instantly. Tether also announced a separate strategic investment in LayerZero Labs on Tuesday. ZRO Price Skyrockets Following the news, ZRO soared more than 40% in the last 24 hours, hitting a four-month high of $2.59 on Wednesday morning. The cryptocurrency had been trading between the $1.50 and $2.00 area over the past few weeks, reaching a local low of $1.35 during last week’s crash. Now, the recent momentum has pushed LayerZero back above the $2.00 area and toward a major resistance area. The cryptocurrency has been unable to reclaim the $2.60 mark since June, being rejected from this area after each retest. Related Reading: Bitcoin Could See New Drop To $60,000 Despite Bounce – Here’s The Level To Defend If ZRO reclaims $2.60, it could target the next major resistance, located at around $3.00. Analyst Crypto Tony affirmed that if the cryptocurrency clears this level, “we are good for $3.30. Wave 3 is beginning.” As of this writing, ZRO is trading at $2.45, a 36.5% increase in the weekly timeframe. Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
Citadel has made a strategic investment in LayerZero’s ZRO token as the interoperability firm rolls out its high-performance blockchain.
The investing giant had asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to treat DeFi players like regulated entities, and the DeFi crowd pushed back.
Ripple’s most recent funding round has become one of the biggest crypto-related deals of the year, mainly because of who joined in and how the deal was structured. According to details shared in Bloomberg’s report, major Wall Street names, including Citadel Securities, Fortress Investment Group, Brevan Howard, and Galaxy Digital, put $500 million into Ripple, giving the company a valuation of around $40 billion. This instantly turned the round into one of the strongest signs yet that traditional finance is taking a serious interest in the XRP ecosystem. How Wall Street Structured The Deal To Protect Themselves In early November 2025, Ripple closed a major private equity round that injected $500 million into the company, resulting in a valuation of roughly $40 billion. However, new details show that the most surprising part of the transaction is not the amount raised but the agreement behind it. Bloomberg reports that investors in this round did not simply buy Ripple shares and hope the value rises. Instead, they secured built-in protections that guarantee them profits later. Related Reading: Here’s The Level That XRP Price Must Reclaim To Trigger Another Surge They were given the right to sell their shares back to Ripple in three to four years at a 10% yearly return, unless Ripple goes public before then. At that rate, Ripple would need to pay roughly $732 million to buy the shares back after four years. That means even if Ripple’s valuation stays flat or drops, the investors still walk away with guaranteed gains. However, if Ripple decides to buy the shares back earlier, the investors get an even higher payout of around 25% annualized rate. A liquidation preference was also included, meaning these investors get paid first if anything goes wrong. Ripple noted in its announcement of the investment round that it has repurchased more than 25% of its outstanding shares over the past few years. Why The Deal Is Really A Bet On XRP Even though the investors bought equity in Ripple, not XRP itself, most of Ripple’s value still comes from its massive XRP holdings. According to Bloomberg, two of the funds that put in money noted that at least 90% of Ripple’s net value is tied to XRP. As of July 2025, Ripple held around $124 billion worth of XRP, although most of its XRP holdings are held in escrow. Related Reading: What’s Happening With XRP And Why Did Its Spot ETF Crash 20%? This means the investment round, in reality, is also a bet on XRP’s long-term relevance and future market strength. If the price of XRP grows, Ripple benefits, and so do the investors who now hold equity backed by a company sitting on one of the world’s largest digital asset reserves. However, the $500 million investment does show that serious investors believe Ripple will continue growing, but just that Ripple’s success is still directly linked to the XRP price. Featured image from Adobe Stock, chart from Tradingview.com
The funding, which values Kraken at $20B, accelerates plans to integrate traditional markets with crypto infrastructure across multiple regions.
Founded by billionaire Ken Griffin, the firm argued that these blockchain-based products could create unfair advantages and drain liquidity from traditional equity markets.