DoubleZero launches mainnet-beta network

DoubleZero Foundation put a dedicated communications network for blockchains into mainnet-beta on October 2, 2025, arguing that crypto systems need the same kind of purpose-built transport infrastructure long used in traditional electronic trading. The network lets Solana validators bypass parts of the public internet and send traffic over contributed private fiber routes instead, according to the company. (doublezero.xyz) In April 2026, DoubleZero expanded that pitch with the public beta of DoubleZero Edge, a market-data product that delivers raw Solana block data over the same physical network. The company says the goal is lower latency, less jitter and more deterministic delivery for firms that trade or validate on-chain. ### What exactly did DoubleZero launch? DoubleZero Foundation said its mainnet-beta went live on October 2, 2025, as a production network for distributed systems backed by a token called 2Z. (theblock.co) At launch, the company said Solana validators could use dedicated routes rather than the public internet, with the network spanning more than 70 direct fiber links across more than 25 global locations. The April 16, 2026 rollout of DoubleZero Edge added a separate product layer on top of that transport network. The Block reported that Edge is a permissionless platform for delivering on-chain market data, starting with a real-time feed of Solana “shreds,” the raw block data packets validators exchange before blocks are fully assembled. (doublezero.xyz) ### Why build fiber for a blockchain network instead of using the internet? The DoubleZero whitepaper, published in December 2024, says blockchains are increasingly constrained not by compute inside validators but by bandwidth limits and variable latency between them. The paper says the protocol is designed to combine contributed private fiber links into a synchronized network that increases bandwidth, lowers latency and removes jitter from communication. (doublezero.xyz) Andrew McConnell, a DoubleZero co-founder, told The Block that traditional finance spent decades building infrastructure where deterministic performance provides a competitive advantage. He said on-chain markets did not have that foundation, leaving trading firms to operate with more variable network conditions. ### What problem is Edge supposed to solve for traders? (theblock.co) DoubleZero Edge began by distributing Solana shreds because those packets can matter to firms trying to react to market changes before information is widely propagated across the network. The Block reported that Edge is built to support other networks and information sources over time, including centralized exchanges and prediction markets. (doublezero.xyz) DoubleZero told The Block that its fiber network and validator participants delivered Solana shreds with an average 6 millisecond advantage. During periods of high congestion, the company said the advantage reached as much as 20 milliseconds in Europe, 80 milliseconds in the United States and more than 100 milliseconds in Asia. Those figures were presented by the company in connection with the Edge beta launch. (theblock.co) ### Who is already using the network? DoubleZero said that, at its October 2025 mainnet-beta launch, 386 validators and 20.78% of Solana mainnet stake had migrated to the network. The company also said 11 independent contributors supplied the initial link base, including Jump, RockawayX, Distributed Global, Latitude, Teraswitch, Galaxy, Cherry Servers, Staking Facilities, South 3rd Ventures, Jito and Cumberland/DRW. (theblock.co) DoubleZero’s current dashboard, as recently crawled in May 2026, shows 465 validators on the network, 51.37% of Solana stake associated with DoubleZero validators and 47.93% associated with DoubleZero Edge validators. The dashboard also lists aggregate network capacity at 9.71 Tbps and connected value at $19 billion. ### How does this connect crypto infrastructure to market-structure issues? (theblock.co) Austin Federa, a DoubleZero co-founder and former Solana Foundation executive, said at the mainnet-beta launch that blockchain had outgrown the public internet and needed a new foundation for high-performance distributed systems. In the same announcement, he compared the build-out to infrastructure work long undertaken by Wall Street trading firms and large Web2 companies. The whitepaper makes the same case in technical terms. (doublezero.xyz) It says public internet paths are prone to inconsistent routing and jitter, and that those network conditions can slow consensus and raise hardware demands on validators that must ingest heavy transaction flows. ### What comes next from here? DoubleZero Edge is still in public beta as of April 16, 2026, according to The Block. (doublezero.xyz) The initial participants named for the data platform were Jito, Temporal, Staking Facilities and Triton, which The Block said gave the service shred feeds from validators running every major Solana client. DoubleZero’s own dashboard says it updates network capacity daily and utilization and stake metrics hourly. The company is also directing validators to a migration page and pricing page for mainnet-beta participation, where it says a 5% seat fee on block signature rewards and priority fees applies after launch at Solana epoch 859. (doublezero.xyz 1) (doublezero.xyz 2) (theblock.co) (doublezero.xyz)