In an interview at the Collision conference in Toronto, Bryan Pellegrino, the CEO of cross-chain interoperability protocol LayerZero, expressed optimism about the future of the blockchain industry. Pellegrino highlighted LayerZero’s role as the ‘really important plumbing’ that supports the industry and discussed the evolving market dynamics.
Pellegrino acknowledged that the crypto industry faced challenging times in the past, citing the year 2015 as particularly tough when nobody seemed to care about blockchain. However, he emphasized that the present situation is much better, revealing that LayerZero has experienced a significant increase in protocol usage, from 10,000 messages per day six months ago to 650,000 messages per day currently.
LayerZero’s market has been predominantly driven by decentralized finance (DeFi), which accounts for around 70% of its overall volume. However, Pellegrino also mentioned gaming and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as growing segments, making up approximately 80% of the platform’s inbound activity.
Looking ahead, Pellegrino predicted that the next 36 months would bring substantial changes both for LayerZero and the industry as a whole. He emphasized the multitude of innovative projects being built and the increasing involvement of external parties, indicating a promising future.
Pellegrino noted that LayerZero’s market share has grown along with its usage, positioning the protocol as crucial infrastructure for various blockchain-dependent applications. He stressed that even prominent figures within specific ecosystems, such as Anatoly Yakovenko from Solana and Vitalik Buterin from Ethereum, recognize the need for a multichain environment, rather than relying solely on a single chain.
LayerZero recently secured $120 million in Series B funding, with notable investors including Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Samsung Next. This substantial investment raised the company’s valuation to $3 billion. LayerZero intends to expand its operations into the Asia-Pacific region and explore other growth opportunities.