Keynote: DoubleZero (Austin Federa)

The public internet is holding blockchain back. That's the bold claim Austin Federa made at Breakpoint 2025 while unveiling DoubleZero—a groundbreaking physical fiber network that promises to revolutionize Solana's infrastructure with the same technology that powers high-frequency trading on Wall Street.

Summary

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The Solana ecosystem has made remarkable software progress, with both Firedancer and Agave clients demonstrating the ability to handle one million transactions per second. But Federa argues that software optimization alone won't be enough to realize the vision of true internet capital markets. The fundamental bottleneck, he explains, is the public internet itself—a network built for reachability and cost rather than raw speed.

DoubleZero represents a paradigm shift in how blockchain infrastructure is conceived. Rather than accepting the limitations of commodity internet connections, the project has assembled a coalition of 15 independent contributors who are connecting physical fiber cables, routers, and switches across 20 metros worldwide. This creates an alternative highway for Solana data that operates at OSI layers one, two, and three—far below the software level where most blockchain optimizations typically occur.

The results are striking. The network now boasts 3.4 terabits per second of capacity across 70 different fiber links, powered by 72 devices. But more impressive than the raw numbers are the latency improvements: the Frankfurt-to-Tokyo route runs 40% faster than the fastest public internet circuit, while new multicast technology has demonstrated a 100-millisecond advantage over traditional shred propagation and a stunning 99.96% reduction in bandwidth usage.

Perhaps most significantly, DoubleZero is expanding beyond the traditional validator strongholds of continental Europe and the United States. New network locations are planned for Argentina, Brazil, Hong Kong, India, mainland China, South Africa, and the UAE in 2026—accompanied by a new delegation program designed to incentivize validators to operate in these underserved regions.

Key Points:

Why the Public Internet Falls Short

The public internet is an engineering marvel, but it was designed for universal connectivity and cost efficiency rather than raw performance. For traditional web browsing and streaming, it works beautifully. For high-speed financial trading where milliseconds matter, it becomes a significant bottleneck.

Federa contextualized the challenge by noting that US equities markets alone average around 350,000 transactions per second—and that's just the lit market, excluding international trading, derivatives, and futures. One million transactions per second, which seemed revolutionary when demonstrated by Firedancer, suddenly appears insufficient for supporting true institutional-scale capital markets on blockchain. The path to 10x or even 1000x scaling requires addressing infrastructure at the most fundamental level.

HFT-Grade Ultra Low Latency Circuits

For the first time in blockchain history, DoubleZero is bringing the same class of dedicated fiber circuits used by high-frequency trading firms to crypto infrastructure. These aren't commodity connections—they represent best-in-class fiber built specifically for speed.

The performance improvements are substantial. The Frankfurt-to-Tokyo route achieves 134 milliseconds round trip, roughly 40% faster than the fastest public internet option and 80% faster than average public internet times. Even on the highly optimized New York-to-London corridor, DoubleZero delivers 5% improvement—which may sound marginal until you consider that 5% can determine whether a transaction lands on the current leader or must wait 60-90 milliseconds for the next leader rotation. In fast-moving markets, these seemingly small differentials compound into meaningful competitive advantages.

Multicast Technology Revolution

One of the most technically significant announcements is the introduction of multicast to cryptocurrency networks. Multicast is a hardware-level technology that accelerates packet replication, offloading significant work from validators and enabling faster communication.

The initial testing results exceeded expectations. Within Europe alone, multicast shred distribution showed a 100-millisecond advantage over traditional turbine propagation for getting data from London to Frankfurt. Even more dramatic was the bandwidth testing conducted with Jito, which demonstrated a 99.96% reduction in bandwidth usage for Jito's shred stream. This efficiency gain could have profound implications for network costs and scalability.

Decentralized Network Governance

Unlike private fiber networks operated by Amazon, Google, or traditional HFT firms, DoubleZero operates as a token-powered decentralized network. No single company controls the infrastructure, and no centralized admin keys exist. Instead, 15 independent contributors provide fiber capacity to the network.

This represents a fundamental innovation in how high-performance networks can be organized. Traditional approaches require massive capital expenditure by a single entity and create obvious points of centralization and potential failure. DoubleZero's contributor model allows the network to grow organically while maintaining the decentralization ethos central to blockchain philosophy.

Global Expansion and Validator Incentives

Currently, Solana's validator stake is heavily concentrated in continental Europe and the United States, primarily because those regions offer the best connectivity. DoubleZero aims to change this by building fiber routes to underserved regions and creating economic incentives for validators to relocate.

The 2026 expansion plans include Argentina, Brazil, Hong Kong, India, mainland China, South Africa, and the UAE. To complement this physical infrastructure build-out, DoubleZero is expanding its delegation program to specifically target validators in these new geographies. When new fiber connectivity reaches a market like Buenos Aires or Dubai, validators who move there will receive delegations ensuring they have sufficient leader slots to operate profitably—essentially dragging the center of gravity of stake away from its current European concentration.

Facts + Figures

• DoubleZero currently operates 3.4 terabits per second of capacity across the network
• The network spans 70 different fiber links across 20 metros
• 72 physical devices power the infrastructure
• 15 independent contributors provide fiber capacity to the network
• Approximately 40% of Solana by stake currently runs on DoubleZero
• About 50% of Solana validators use the network
• Frankfurt-to-Tokyo route is 40% faster than the fastest public internet circuit
• Frankfurt-to-Tokyo is 80% faster than average public internet times
• Chicago-to-Tokyo route achieves 40% improvement over public internet
• New York-to-London sees 5% improvement over fastest public internet
• Frankfurt-to-Tokyo round trip time is 134 milliseconds
• Multicast delivers 100-millisecond advantage over turbine for shred propagation within Europe
• Testing with Jito showed 99.96% reduction in bandwidth usage for shred streams
• US equities markets average approximately 350,000 transactions per second
• 2026 expansion plans include seven new regions: Argentina, Brazil, Hong Kong, India, mainland China, South Africa, and UAE

Top Quotes

1. "The ambition of crypto is still too small today."

2. "DoubleZero is the internet in the internet capital markets."

3. "All the optimizations to date in blockchain have been on the software layer. They haven't actually dealt with the fundamental problem."

4. "The public internet is too slow with what we're asking it to do now."

5. "We are really talking about cables running on the ocean floor, over mountains, under cities, physical routers and infrastructure and switches."

6. "This is a network built to go as fast as traditional finance allows it to go."

7. "This is the first time this has ever been done. All other high performance networks that exist are run by one central company with one central set of admin keys."

8. "Markets can only move as fast as possible. And so the faster you get information, the faster markets move."

9. "5% can be the difference between landing your transaction on the current leader and having to wait 60 to 90 milliseconds for a leader rotation."

10. "This month, we brought multicast to crypto for the first time."

Questions Answered

What is DoubleZero and why was it created?

DoubleZero is a new high-performance blockchain infrastructure layer consisting of physical fiber optic cables, routers, and switches designed specifically for blockchain networks like Solana. It was created because the public internet, while excellent for general purposes, wasn't designed for the ultra-low latency requirements of high-speed financial trading. The project aims to provide the same grade of infrastructure that Wall Street trading firms use, enabling Solana to scale 10 to 1000 times beyond current capabilities and support true institutional-scale capital markets.

How does DoubleZero differ from other private fiber networks?

While private fiber networks aren't new—companies like Amazon, Google, and high-frequency trading firms have operated them for years—DoubleZero is unique in being decentralized and token-powered. Instead of one company controlling all the infrastructure with centralized admin keys, DoubleZero has 15 independent contributors providing fiber capacity to the network. This represents the first time a high-performance network of this caliber has been organized in a decentralized manner, aligning with blockchain's core philosophy while delivering enterprise-grade performance.

What performance improvements does DoubleZero achieve over the public internet?

The improvements vary by route but are significant across the board. The Frankfurt-to-Tokyo connection runs at 134 milliseconds round trip, which is 40% faster than the fastest public internet circuit and 80% faster than average public internet times. Chicago-to-Tokyo achieves similar 40% improvements. Even the highly optimized New York-to-London corridor sees 5% improvement. These gains matter enormously in trading contexts where milliseconds determine whether transactions execute on the current block leader or must wait for the next rotation.

What is multicast technology and why does it matter for Solana?

Multicast is hardware-level technology that accelerates packet replication, allowing data to be distributed to multiple recipients more efficiently than traditional methods. DoubleZero brought multicast to cryptocurrency for the first time, with impressive results: a 100-millisecond advantage over turbine for shred propagation within Europe, and a 99.96% reduction in bandwidth usage when tested with Jito's shred stream. This technology offloads significant work from validators and could dramatically reduce network costs while improving speed.

Where is DoubleZero expanding in 2026?

Network contributors are adding locations in Argentina, Brazil, Hong Kong, India, mainland China, South Africa, and the UAE to the DoubleZero network in 2026. These regions have historically been either economically unviable or too high-latency for running Solana validators effectively. The expansion is coupled with a new delegation program that incentivizes validators to move to these underserved regions, effectively decentralizing Solana's validator base away from its current concentration in continental Europe and the United States.

Why is validator geographic distribution important for Solana?

Currently, Solana's stake is heavily concentrated in Germany and Amsterdam because those locations offer excellent connectivity. This concentration creates potential centralization risks and limits the network's global resilience. By building new fiber routes to underserved regions and offering delegation incentives to validators who relocate, DoubleZero aims to expand where it's economically viable to run validators. This would strengthen Solana's decentralization while reducing latency for users in currently underserved markets like Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

How much of Solana currently uses DoubleZero infrastructure?

Approximately 40% of Solana by stake and 50% of validators currently run on the DoubleZero network. This substantial adoption demonstrates the network's reliability and the value validators place on improved performance. As the network expands to new regions and multicast functionality becomes fully available, these numbers are expected to grow as validators seek the competitive advantages that lower latency and higher bandwidth provide.