LayerZero 

ZRO Price

What is the LayerZero protocol?

LayerZero is an omnichain interoperability protocol that lets applications send messages and move tokens across blockchains without wrapped assets or intermediary bridges. The protocol's Omnichain Fungible Token (OFT) standard moves assets 1:1 between chains. ZRO is the protocol's governance token, issued by the LayerZero Foundation. Target users include DeFi applications, exchanges and institutions. The OFT standard underpins USDT0, Tether's omnichain USDt deployment. In February 2026, LayerZero Labs announced Zero, a zero-knowledge Layer 1 aimed at financial-market infrastructure.

Is ZRO a coin or a token?

ZRO is a token, not a coin. The asset runs on other chains' infrastructure and has no blockchain of its own. ZRO is deployed natively as an OFT at one identical contract address on seven chains: Ethereum, Base, OP Mainnet, Arbitrum One, Polygon, Avalanche C-Chain and BSC. DropsTab classifies LayerZero under Cross-Chain Communication. A native coin would exist only on the announced Zero network, whose launch was reported for Q3 2026.

What is the ZRO token used for?

ZRO's documented function is governance of the LayerZero protocol. Public documentation records no fee-capture mechanism that pays revenue to ZRO holders. On the announced Zero Layer 1, ZRO is designated as the governance asset. The token carries no staking reward or fee-share claim in materials published by LayerZero Labs or the LayerZero Foundation.

How many ZRO tokens exist and how is supply allocated?

ZRO has a fixed maximum supply of 1,000,000,000 tokens; maximum supply equals total supply, with no inflation beyond scheduled unlocks. Per DropsTab data, the allocation is Strategic Partners 322M (32.2%), Core Contributors 255M (25.5%), LayerZero Community 250M (25%), Community 133M (13.3%) and Tokens Repurchased 40M (4%). Insider-linked allocations — Strategic Partners plus Core Contributors — control 57.7% of the cap. With the repurchased tranche, 61.7% of supply sits outside the two community buckets.

When do ZRO tokens unlock, and what does the vesting schedule mean for investors?

ZRO's TGE occurred on 20 June 2024, when the full 250M LayerZero Community allocation — 25% of supply — unlocked. Remaining tranches carry a 12-month cliff, then unlock monthly on the 20th from June 2025 through 20 June 2027: 10.2M ZRO to Core Contributors, 12.88M to Strategic Partners and 1.6M of repurchased tokens. Per DropsTab vesting data, the schedule comprises 76 unlock events. That combined 24.68M ZRO per month — about 2.47% of total supply — adds recurring sell-side supply regardless of market conditions until June 2027.

Who backed LayerZero Labs?

LayerZero Labs raised $318.3M across five disclosed rounds. The rounds were a $2M seed in April 2021; a $6.3M venture round in September 2021 led by Multicoin Capital and YZi Labs; a $135M Series A in March 2022 at a $1B valuation, led by a16z and FTX Ventures with Sequoia Capital, Coinbase Ventures and PayPal Ventures; a $120M Series B in April 2023 at a $3B valuation; and a $55M private token sale in April 2025, in which a16z crypto bought ZRO directly from the foundation with a 3-year lockup.

What does LayerZero's fundraising signal about project maturity?

The investor lineup spans crypto-native and institutional capital across five years. a16z participated in three separate deals — the Series A, the Series B and the 2025 token purchase — a repeated-commitment signal rare for interoperability protocols. In February 2026, two strategic rounds accompanied the Zero L1 announcement: Tether invested, and Citadel Securities plus ARK Invest joined. Both amounts are undisclosed. Market-infrastructure names like Citadel Securities and DTCC collaborator status tie LayerZero to institutional adoption rather than retail-only demand.

How did the ZRO community claim work?

ZRO launched on 20 June 2024 with a community claim drawn from the 250M-token LayerZero Community allocation. Eligible wallets claimed ZRO after passing a proof-of-humanity check or paying a US$0.10 donation to protocol-approved charities. The campaign ran once, at TGE, and closed when the claim window ended — no participation route remains. No successor airdrop or earning campaign has been announced in public documentation.

Where can you buy and sell the ZRO token?

ZRO trades on 80+ markets tracked by DropsTab: more than 50 centralized spot pairs, over 5+ perpetual-futures venues, and DEX pairs on Uniswap V3, Aerodrome and SushiSwap V3. Spot coverage is deep — Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, OKX, Bybit, KuCoin, Gate and Upbit all list ZRO, quoted against USDT, USD, EUR and KRW. CEX depth dominates liquidity, so DEX pairs function as supplementary venues spread across the seven chains where the ZRO OFT is deployed.

What is Zero, the Layer 1 announced by LayerZero Labs?

Zero is a zero-knowledge Layer 1 blockchain announced by LayerZero Labs in February 2026, targeting financial-market infrastructure. DTCC, Intercontinental Exchange and Google Cloud were named as collaborators on the project. ZRO is designated for governance on Zero. LayerZero Labs, the development company, and the LayerZero Foundation, the ZRO issuer, remain distinct entities from the Zero network itself. Launch was reported for Q3 2026.