Austin Federa leaves Solana to launch DoubleZero Network

Austin Federa, the Strategy Lead at Solana (CRYPTO:SOL) Foundation, has announced his departure after four years to co-found DoubleZero, a new protocol focused on enhancing the performance of high-performance networks, particularly for blockchain applications.

In a statement released on December 4, Federa explained that leaving Solana was a difficult decision but emphasised that his new role would allow him to continue contributing to the network from a different angle.

DoubleZero, according to Federa, is not just another layer 1 or layer 2 protocol but rather a global base layer network optimised for blockchain systems, designed to improve both bandwidth and reduce latency.

“We’re building a network architecture capable of supporting tens of millions of transactions per second,” said Federa.

“DoubleZero is a neutral base layer infrastructure and a foundation for all high-performance blockchains.”

DoubleZero aims to create a decentralised, permissionless network using dedicated fiber and subsea cables managed by independent contributors.

Its design includes specialised hardware to filter and prioritise outbound messages for efficiency, while inbound transactions will be screened for spam and duplicates before being sent across the network.

This approach intends to reduce communication bottlenecks in blockchain systems and enable higher performance.

“As part of this realignment, we made the difficult decision to reduce Foundry’s workforce, resulting in layoffs across multiple teams,” the company described the layoffs as a difficult but necessary step.

DoubleZero’s potential extends beyond blockchain applications.

The network could also benefit online gaming, where low latency is crucial for user experience, and other distributed systems like large language models that require high-bandwidth connections.

The project was co-founded by Austin Federa, Andrew McConnell, and Mateo Ward and is supported by key teams like Firedancer and Malbec Labs.

At the time of reporting, the Solana price was $236.08.