“We’re delivering a more practical solution that prioritizes speed and privacy,” said Ondo CEO Ian De Bode as the company launched its Ondo Network on July 27. Originally, Ondo Finance planned to build a standalone Layer 1 blockchain called Ondo Chain, but the new hybrid execution layer marks a strategic pivot designed to better serve tokenized real-world assets.
Instead of creating a blockchain from scratch, Ondo Network splits operations into two parts: secure hardware enclaves that handle fast, private trade execution, and a decentralized attestor network responsible for verification and key management. This hybrid design processes transactions off-chain but settles assets on public blockchains like Ethereum, maintaining transparency while improving performance.
The first live application on Ondo Network is Ondo Perps, a perpetual futures platform launched on July 7 offering 24/7 trading with up to 20x use. It stands out by allowing traders to use tokenized stocks as collateral, a first within perpetual futures markets. Ondo’s evolution reflects feedback favoring execution speed and privacy over launching another Layer 1 blockchain in an already saturated market.
The ONDO token, currently valued around $0.40 with a $2 billion market cap, underpins governance and incentives within the ecosystem. However, the reliance on hardware enclaves introduces trust assumptions absent in purely decentralized blockchains, raising questions about potential vulnerabilities and the attestor network’s decentralization. Ondo plans gradual enhancements to increase complexity and decentralization in future updates.
