What is DoubleZero?

DoubleZero is a decentralized physical infrastructure network that describes itself as the first Network Layer 1 (N1). It does not operate its own blockchain. Instead, the protocol provides a global mesh of dedicated fiber links that Layer 1s, Layer 2s, and data-heavy applications can use as an alternative to the public internet.

Independent contributors provide underused fiber and specialized hardware. Smart contracts on Solana coordinate these contributions, verify measured performance, and distribute rewards in the native 2Z token. This structure places DoubleZero among DePIN projects, which use token incentives to build physical infrastructure. Its institutional-grade bandwidth distinguishes it from consumer hardware networks.

Malbec Labs, the protocol's core engineering firm, maintains the full software stack. It is open sourced under the Apache 2.0 license on GitHub.

How Does DoubleZero Work?

DoubleZero brings contributed fiber, purpose-built hardware, and onchain coordination into a single system. The technical documentation divides the design into layers that filter traffic and carry it across dedicated links. Every device is configured from one onchain source of truth.

Outer and Inner Rings

The Outer Ring forms the boundary between DoubleZero and the public internet. Its hardware verifies signatures, removes duplicate packets, and blocks spam before traffic enters the core. Validators receive a cleaner data stream and use less computing power on filtering.

Inside the protected Inner Ring, participants communicate over dedicated bandwidth without exposure to public internet congestion. Consensus messages and state updates therefore travel with consistent, measurable latency.

Devices and Exchange Points

DoubleZero Devices (DZDs) are network appliances installed in data centers where fiber links terminate. Many use Field Programmable Gate Arrays, which are chips programmed to process packets at line speed. They handle signature checks and deduplication without slowing traffic.

DoubleZero Exchanges (DZXs) serve as regional hubs where links from different contributors interconnect. Each combines independently owned fiber into one metro-area mesh. This preserves decentralized ownership while providing several redundant routes between cities.

Onchain Coordination

A daemon called doublezerod manages tunnels and connections on each connected host. The controller reads instructions from the protocol's smart contracts and converts them into device configurations. Telemetry agents then publish measured latency onchain, creating a public record that anyone can use to check whether a link performs as promised.

What is DoubleZero Edge?

DoubleZero Edge is a market data platform that expanded the network beyond infrastructure and introduced a revenue-generating product. It launched in April with real-time data feeds delivered to paying subscribers over DoubleZero's fiber.

Its first product delivered Solana shreds, the smallest fragments of a Solana block. Block producers broadcast them while assembling the block, making shreds the earliest signal of onchain activity available to a trading firm. Edge distributes this data through multicast, a method borrowed from traditional exchanges. One stream is published once and reaches every subscriber at the same time. Payments are made in USDC, with participating validators receiving a share of the revenue for publishing their shreds.

By the end of the June quarter, 434 connected validators were publishing shreds through Edge. The service had attracted 447 distinct subscribers since launch.

A broader use case arrived in August, when Kalshi became the first prediction market to distribute its live order book through Edge. The feed covers Kalshi's sports event contracts and crypto perpetual futures. Level 1 data includes the best bid and ask prices alongside completed trades, while Level 2 shows resting orders across multiple price levels. Kalshi agreed to waive its share of subscription revenue during the first year, reducing costs for early subscribers.

Our Kalshi explainer covers how the exchange operates. The agreement establishes Edge as a potential delivery layer for any speed-sensitive market data. Given the rapid growth of prediction markets, more venues are likely to follow.

DoubleZero Delegation Program

The DoubleZero Delegation Program (DZDP) is a SOL stake pool that rewards Solana validators for joining the network. It began with 3 million SOL before expanding to 13 million SOL when mainnet-beta launched in October 2025. Validators must remain connected, hold more than 10,000 staked SOL, and charge no more than 10% commission to qualify. Delegations are rebalanced regularly.

Phase II of the program started on 9 March with a greater focus on geographic decentralization. Around 2.4 million SOL is being allocated to validators in São Paulo, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Tokyo, with each region eligible for up to 600,000 SOL in additional delegated stake.

Solana stake remains heavily concentrated in European data centers, as shown in our Solana staking statistics. The program aims to make high-performance validator operations viable in locations far from those established hubs.

DoubleZero Statistics and Trends

DoubleZero expanded massively during the first half of 2026, with its second-quarter network update providing detailed adoption figures. These statistics are tracked live at data.malbeclabs.com.

These are the key network statistics from the latest quarterly update:

• Total Connected Value of $21.7 billion: TCV measures the onchain economic value secured by validators whose stake runs over the network. It increased 20.6% from $18 billion in the previous quarter.
• 59% of Solana mainnet stake weight: More than half of Solana's expected block production now runs over private fiber. That figure has risen from 46.2% one quarter earlier and roughly 25% at the mainnet-beta launch.
• 462 connected validators: Coinbase's Solana validator joined in late June, helping participation pass the majority threshold. Other connected operators include Figment, Galaxy, and Everstake.
• 166 dedicated links at 10.14 Tbps: Ten links were added during the quarter across Pittsburgh, New York, Chicago, Washington DC, Frankfurt, Munich, Amsterdam, and Tokyo.
• 20% average speed improvement: DoubleZero reports that round trips average one fifth faster than equivalent routes over the public internet.

With most block production now moving over private fiber, DoubleZero's performance has become an operational baseline for Solana. Its network-level improvements complement client-side work such as Firedancer.

The business is also moving beyond validators. Kalshi's feed serves market data customers, while a new geolocation verification service uses latency measurements to prove a server's physical location instead of relying on easily spoofed IP databases. Both products target users outside core blockchain infrastructure. Institutional interest is also growing, with Grayscale adding 2Z to its assets under consideration list in the first quarter.

DoubleZero 2Z Tokenomics

The protocol's native 2Z token was issued under Solana's SPL token standard with a total supply of 10 billion. According to the tokenomics disclosure, 29% is allocated to the DoubleZero Foundation and ecosystem, 28% to Jump Crypto, and 14% to Malbec Labs. Institutions receive 12%, the team holds 10%, and the final 7% is divided among contributors, builders, and validators. Most allocations follow multi-year vesting schedules extending into 2029.

2Z launched alongside mainnet-beta in October 2025, shortly after the SEC issued a no-action letter. The letter stated that SEC staff would not pursue enforcement over the token's distribution to network participants.

Its market performance has been severe. After reaching an all-time high near $0.75 during its first week, 2Z fell more than 90% to around $0.05. Approximately 3.47 billion tokens are currently circulating. Another 1.66 billion, equivalent to nearly half the present circulating supply, is scheduled to unlock on 2 October.

DoubleZero also changed the revenue model supporting the token. It originally charged connected validators 5% of their block rewards, collecting the fee in SOL and generating around $3.5 million in annualized revenue. The protocol later retired that fee and replaced it with USDC income from Edge subscriptions.

Protocol revenue is now used to purchase 2Z on the open market. Of the acquired tokens, 10% are permanently burned and the remaining 90% are distributed to the fiber and hardware contributors operating the network. The token's value therefore depends directly on how much market data DoubleZero sells.

DoubleZero Use Cases

DoubleZero was designed for distributed systems where speed and consistency have economic value. Its customer base now extends well beyond validators.

These are the main ways DoubleZero is used today:

• Blockchain validators: Solana operators use the network for faster block propagation, cleaner inbound traffic, and lower missed-vote rates. Support for additional Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks is planned.
• Market data distribution: Edge subscriptions deliver real-time Solana shreds and Kalshi order book feeds to trading firms, market makers, and quantitative desks.
• RPC providers: RPC nodes joined the network in late 2025 to improve transaction delivery for applications and users. These servers handle requests to read blockchain data and submit transactions.
• Geolocation verification: Latency physics provides onchain proof of a server's physical location. The service targets compliance and access-control systems where VPN spoofing can defeat IP-based checks.
• AI and enterprise networking: High-bandwidth links can connect GPU clusters used for distributed model training. Enterprises can also obtain elastic private bandwidth without committing to long-term telecom leases.

Who Founded DoubleZero?

Austin Federa, Andrew McConnell, and Mateo Ward founded DoubleZero. Federa previously served as Head of Strategy at the Solana Foundation and is the project's public voice. McConnell is DoubleZero's CTO, while both he and Ward have backgrounds spanning protocol engineering and physical fiber architecture.

The project raised $28 million in a token round co-led by Multicoin Capital and Dragonfly at a reported $400 million valuation. Malbec Labs handles day-to-day development. The DoubleZero Foundation oversees governance, the delegation pool, and commercial partnerships such as the Kalshi feed.

Risks and Concerns of DoubleZero

DoubleZero is expanding quickly, but the network and its token carry several material risks.

These are the concerns we monitor most closely:

• Supply overhang: Only around one third of the 2Z supply is circulating, while insiders control much of the locked allocation. The October unlock alone could increase circulating supply by nearly half.
• Unproven revenue base: DoubleZero replaced a guaranteed validator fee with Edge subscriptions. Token buybacks and contributor rewards now rely on the platform attracting paying data customers.
• Concentration trade-off: Carrying 59% of Solana's stake improves performance but creates a shared dependency on one private network. A major outage would test the system's ability to fall back to public internet connections.
• Competition: Jito, Helius, and bloXroute already provide shred delivery services to latency-sensitive Solana traders. Traditional telecom carriers could also pursue the same institutional customers.
• Physical and geopolitical exposure: Fiber spanning several jurisdictions is vulnerable to cable damage, regional regulation, and cross-border data policies that do not affect pure software protocols.
• Narrow regulatory cover: The SEC no-action letter applies to one specific distribution. Regulatory treatment of DePIN rewards remains unsettled elsewhere.

Final Thoughts

A year ago, DoubleZero was an ambitious whitepaper carrying a quarter of Solana's stake. It now handles most of the network's block production through 166 dedicated links across three continents. Customers are also paying in USDC for data delivered faster than it would travel over the public internet.

The Kalshi agreement is the clearest sign that DoubleZero can sell its infrastructure to venues outside blockchain consensus, opening a much larger market than validator connectivity alone. Edge revenue still needs to grow fast enough to offset a token supply that will more than double over the coming years. The infrastructure thesis has strengthened, but the token remains a bet on execution.