LayerZero launched ATLAS, an exchange system operating on the Zero blockchain. Most of the funds remaining after deducting fees from trading platforms are used to buy and burn $ZRO tokens.
$ZRO holders quickly noticed this, and within 24 hours the token soared more than 16%, reaching a price of $1.26.
To get the maximum discount, platform participants need to stake 1% of the $ZRO emission volume
ATLAS charges a single fixed fee per transaction and then returns a portion of the funds to the platform that facilitated that trading volume.
According to the company, on Open ATLAS the discount ranges from 20% to 65% and depends on the amount of $ZRO the platform invests and the volume of attracted funds.
A quarter of the remaining fee goes to those who created this market. The remaining three quarters are used to buy back $ZRO on the open market and burn it.
The token burn mechanism creates constant market pressure, encouraging exchanges to buy tokens, and incentivizes trading platforms to lock up their supply.
LayerZero stated that to receive the maximum discount, a platform must stake up to 1% of the total $ZRO supply.
ATLAS stands for Aggregated Trading, Liquidity, and Settlement. It is a "headless exchange," meaning it does not provide a user application or its own interface.
Brokers, cryptocurrency exchanges, and financial institutions can use ATLAS in their existing products while maintaining their users, branding, and interface.
ATLAS combines matching, clearing, settlement, and risk management into a single system. Each platform does not need to build its own system or rent these services from a competing exchange. It divides participants into three roles.
These platforms run the applications used by customers. Market creators determine which trades will be executed, including trades with tokens, perpetual bonds, stocks, bonds, commodities, memes, and prediction markets. Market makers provide liquidity.
LayerZero is also developing products for public cryptocurrency and prediction markets, as well as for organizations that set their own trading rules.
"We built ATLAS as a neutral, high-performance backend that will power all of these systems," said LayerZero co-founder and CEO Bryan Pellegrino in a statement.
Today we are announcing @defidefiо the first list of partners for Open ATLAS: @GTE_XYZ , @Bullish , and @get_truenorth . pic.twitter.com/CzV1DNDdTj
— LayerZero (@LayerZero_Core) August 25, 2026
Kelp DAO migrates to Chainlink after losing $292 million
In addition to funding buybacks, $ZRO also performs typical functions for distributing load on the underlying blockchain network.
LayerZero secures Zero through delegated proof-of-stake, pays for gas, and participates in governance voting.
The token is a key element of the security model and fee economy. Staking is the only way to access higher discount tiers.
In February, LayerZero introduced its zero-knowledge financial blockchain platform together with Citadel Securities, Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, ARK Invest, and Intercontinental Exchange, as Cryptopolitan reported at the time.
"ATLAS is the first product launched on this chain," said Jack Melnick, who left Berachain to lead strategy for Zero and ATLAS.
Melnick compared ATLAS to how custodian banks first held assets and then built trading operations around them.
Following an April attack that stole 116,500 rsETH (about $292 million at the time) from a bridge using LayerZero technology and managed by Kelp DAO, cross-chain operations were migrated to Chainlink.
According to Cryptopolitan, Chainalysis attributed this vulnerability to the North Korean Lazarus Group. Since then, Kelp has migrated its own cross-chain routing to the Chainlink Compatibility Protocol, while strengthening its verification model.
According to LayerZero, the Omnichain Fungible Token (OFT) standard has consolidated over $290 billion across more than 160 blockchains into a single blockchain. The ATLAS launch is scheduled for the end of this year.
$ZRO was trading at $1.23, up 12.7% on the day and 58.3% over the past week. The 24-hour trading volume was $206.1 million.
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