By Bardil 
An under-the-radar altcoin, LayerZero’s native token ZRO, experienced a notable price surge on Thursday following a $55 million investment announcement from venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).
ALI YAHYA, a general partner at a16z Crypto, disclosed the investment in ZRO, the native token of the omnichain interoperability protocol LayerZero. YAHYA emphasized that the investment comes with a three-year lockup period.
LayerZero, which facilitates data transfer across blockchains, aims to foster censorship-resistant messaging and permissionless development through immutable smart contracts. This strategic backing from a16z underscores the growing interest in interoperability solutions within the blockchain ecosystem.
Prior to the announcement, ZRO was trading at approximately $2.33. Within 90 minutes, the token surged to a high of $2.54 before settling at $2.46 at the time of writing, reflecting a 2.5% gain over the past 24 hours. This upward movement stands in contrast to the broader crypto market, which has declined by over 1% in the same period.
The investment comes on the heels of recent announcements highlighting LayerZero’s growing ecosystem. Earlier this week, on-chain perpetual exchange GMX named LayerZero as its preferred messaging infrastructure provider for its multichain expansion. Additionally, the XDC Network, a layer-1 blockchain, announced its integration with LayerZero, connecting the XDC Network to over 125 LayerZero-supported blockchains.
The XDC Network stated, “This integration empowers developers and enterprises to build omnichain applications that interact across networks with enhanced trust, speed, and efficiency.”
As LayerZero continues to expand its reach and functionality, the a16z investment signals strong confidence in the protocol’s potential to drive innovation in blockchain interoperability.
Sources: Andreessen Horowitz, LayerZero, GMX, XDC Network