Austin Federa, the co-founder and CEO of DoubleZero, has pointed out that public internet infrastructure poses significant limitations on the speed and performance of high-throughput blockchain networks. In an interview at Consensus 2025, he remarked that the public internet wasn’t designed for high-performance systems. “It was always meant for interaction between a small server and a large one,” he explained.
He mentioned the global presence of validators, noting how rotation leaders often alternate roles, shifting from being major data consumers to large data stations, which necessitates substantial resources for data transfer.
Federa further elaborated that the constraints of public internet infrastructure are currently hindering blockchain performance and overlook aspects like power and software development.
Networks like DoubleZero promise to enhance blockchain speed, minimize the delays in decentralized finance (DeFi) transactions, lower transaction fees, and enable new applications for blockchain that weren’t possible due to existing communication barriers.
DoubleZero’s Background
Austin Federa transitioned from the Solana Foundation in December 2024 to launch the DoubleZero protocol, which aims to decrease latency—the time it takes for data to move through the network—while increasing the amount of data that can be processed simultaneously.
In April 2025, DoubleZero organized a validator token sale intended for node operators eager to participate in network governance. This sale was exclusive to accredited investors involved with high-throughput blockchain networks like Solana, Celestia, SUI, Aptos, Avalanche, and current validators.
The team at DoubleZero plans to unveil a public mainnet in the latter half of 2025, following a successful funding round that raised $28 million.
Federa emphasized the growing throughput demands of blockchain networks and the need for specialized communications infrastructure to support the evolving projects in the industry.
