LayerZero (ZRO) is an omnichain interoperability protocol token deployed on Ethereum (mainnet), with mirrored contract instances at the same address on Base, Polygon, BNB Chain, Arbitrum, Optimism and Avalanche.
The protocol provides cross-chain messaging infrastructure that lets applications transmit data and value between blockchains, and ZRO functions as its governance and fee token. LayerZero Labs, headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, was founded in 2021. The Ethereum contract (0x6985884c4392d348587b19cb9eaaf157f13271cd) was deployed April 17, 2024, ahead of the token's public launch.
LayerZero's on-chain "fee switch" lets ZRO holders vote every six months on whether to activate protocol-level messaging fees, burned in ZRO if approved.
To date, every referendum has kept the fee switch off, so the core protocol currently generates no direct fee revenue for holders. A newly announced institutional trading infrastructure product, ATLAS, launched August 25, 2026, is designed to direct 75% of its post-rebate trading fees toward ZRO buybacks and burns.
ZRO is the governance and fee token of the LayerZero omnichain interoperability protocol, deployed on Ethereum as an omnichain fungible token (OFT).
On-chain metadata categorizes ZRO under Interoperability, with no bridged- or wrapped-token flags. Holders are entitled to vote on activating a periodic protocol messaging fee, with referendum details and outcomes covered under Governance.
Max supply: 1,000,000,000 ZRO (fixed cap). Circulating supply: approximately 353.3 million ZRO.
The on-chain fee-switch burn mechanism remains inactive, though a separate initiative, ATLAS, directs 75% of its trading fees toward ZRO buybacks and burns.
ZRO launched via airdrop rather than a public sale (no ICO or IDO). Its token generation event occurred on June 20, 2024, with 85 million ZRO (8.5% of total supply) airdropped to approximately 1,280,000 eligible wallets.
LayerZero (ZRO) is deployed on Ethereum (mainnet), which uses proof-of-stake consensus, as an omnichain fungible token (OFT) mirrored on Base, Polygon, BNB Chain, Arbitrum, Optimism and Avalanche.
These are LayerZero's own omnichain mirrors rather than third-party bridge wrappers, with Ethereum serving as the canonical deployment. Separately, LayerZero has announced an affiliated Layer-1 blockchain, "Zero," built to support its ATLAS trading infrastructure product, claimed to support throughput exceeding 2 million transactions per second with sub-millisecond latency.
LayerZero was co-founded in 2021 by Bryan Pellegrino (CEO), Ryan Zarick (CTO), and Caleb Banister (Principal Engineer), who met at the University of New Hampshire's InterOperability Lab.
Key early backers include a16z, Sequoia Capital, and reportedly FTX Ventures, among roughly 33 total investors such as a16z crypto, BOND, Circle Ventures, Lightspeed, OKX Ventures, OpenSea Ventures, and Samsung Next.
LayerZero Labs, a for-profit development company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, built and maintains the LayerZero protocol.
The LayerZero Foundation, a related non-profit entity, oversees protocol development and runs layerzero.foundation, including publishing token announcements and administering the recurring governance referenda on the messaging fee switch.
An immutable voting contract enforces LayerZero's governance: a public on-chain referendum held every six months where ZRO holders vote to activate or deactivate a protocol messaging fee.
Referenda held in December 2024, June 2025, December 2025, and June 2026 have all resulted in keeping the fee switch off; if activated, the fee would be collected and burned in ZRO. LayerZero's cross-chain messaging infrastructure is also used by third-party DAOs, such as through an Aragon integration, to govern assets and permissions across multiple chains.
On August 25, 2026, LayerZero unveiled ATLAS (Aggregated Trading, Liquidity and Settlement), an institutional "headless exchange" backend built on a new affiliated Layer-1 blockchain called Zero.
Zero is claimed to support throughput exceeding 2 million transactions per second with sub-millisecond latency. ATLAS has reported interest from Citadel Securities, DTCC, and ICE; financial results are not yet available given its recent launch.
LayerZero has undergone multiple third-party security audits, including by Zellic (May 2024 and September 2025) and ChainSecurity for LayerZero V2; CertiK's Skynet platform lists 11 available audits.
LayerZero partnered with Immunefi in May 2023 on a bug bounty program offering payouts up to $15 million for critical vulnerabilities, ranking among the largest in Web3. The top 10 wallet addresses hold 39% of ZRO supply, and DEX liquidity relative to market capitalization is rated high risk, indicating relatively thin on-chain liquidity.