Layer N
Layer N (now N1) operates a high-throughput L1 blockchain purpose-built for institutional financial applications, featuring a decoupled settlement and execution architecture, native orderbook and margining primitives, and vertically integrated trading apps like 01 Exchange serving institutional traders and DeFi protocols.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2022
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Layer N does
Layer N, rebranded to N1 in December 2024, is a blockchain infrastructure company building an L1 chain purpose-built for high-performance financial applications. Founded in 2022 in the aftermath of the FTX and Luna collapses, the company originally developed Nord, a trading-optimized rollup engine on Ethereum that demonstrated 120,018 peak TPS and 20,000 sustained TPS on closed testnet, approximately 100x throughput of leading Ethereum scaling solutions. The platform implements a decoupled settlement and execution architecture with a two-chain model separating a Ledger Chain (financial integrity) from a Compute Chain (high-performance execution), enabling horizontal scaling as node count grows. Native protocol-level primitives include a fully on-chain central limit orderbook, atomic transaction bundling (Atomics, up to 10 actions per bundle), unified cross-application margining, and a built-in RFQ system connecting takers to professional market makers. The execution layer is hardened with zkFraud Proofs built on RISC Zero's zkVM and uses EigenDA for data availability.
N1's product surface extends beyond infrastructure to include vertically integrated flagship applications, notably 01 Exchange (a perpetual exchange) and TradeRush, alongside incubated ecosystem projects such as Null Studios. The platform is accessible via existing MetaMask and Phantom wallets, supports native bridging from Solana and Ethereum, and is positioned for TypeScript developers rather than the EVM-only crowd. The company targets institutional finance, professional market makers, DeFi protocols, and traditional finance firms exploring real-world asset tokenization, with reported platform metrics of $3.14B+ in volume processed, 4.37B+ actions executed, and 23,481+ active traders.
The business model explicitly rejects per-transaction infrastructure pricing, positioning N1 as a financial network rather than a commodity compute provider. Value capture is expected through the company's own vertically integrated applications and ecosystem products rather than network fees, with the stated goal of near-zero transaction costs. The go-to-market combines institutional field sales (engaging liquidity partners and TradFi firms) with product-led growth through the self-serve app at app.n1.xyz, complemented by an Amber Group-backed $20 million liquidity program designed to seed third-party protocols on N1.
Layer N firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Layer N
- Legal name
- N1
- Website
- https://layern.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2022
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Layer N (now N1) operates a high-throughput L1 blockchain purpose-built for institutional financial applications, featuring a decoupled settlement and execution architecture, native orderbook and margining primitives, and vertically integrated trading apps like 01 Exchange serving institutional traders and DeFi protocols.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Layer N industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Layer 1 Blockchain Infrastructure
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518), Securities and Commodity Contracts Intermediation and Brokerage (5231), Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Layer 1 Base Protocols & Consensus (execution, consensus, security, clients) (FSAPAAAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Smart Contract Developer Platforms & Tooling (SDKs, APIs, frameworks, indexing) (FSAPAAAH), Digital Asset/Crypto Trade Execution Platforms (FSAFANAO), MEV, Sequencing & Transaction Supply Chain (builders, searchers, PBS, auctions) (FSAPAAAG)
Keywords
Where Layer N is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Layer N business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Transaction fees / Network fees: N1 positions itself as a financial network rather than infrastructure provider. The platform aims for near-zero transaction fees as the natural price for commodity computation. Revenue comes from the applications and products built on the network.
- Application ecosystem value capture: Following the L1-as-financial-network thesis, N1 captures value through its flagship applications (01 Exchange, TradeRush) and ecosystem products rather than commodity transaction fees. Vertical integration strategy where the chain and its applications are built as one cohesive system.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Network-level transaction fees |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Layer N product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Layer N (now N1) develops and operates N1, a Layer 1 blockchain purpose-built for high-performance, trustless financial applications, featuring a decoupled settlement and execution architecture with horizontal scaling. The platform exposes native protocol modules — a fully on-chain central limit orderbook, Atomics (atomic transaction bundling), unified margining, and on-chain RFQ — and ships first-party applications 01 Exchange (perpetual exchange) and TradeRush. Revenue is captured through flagship applications and ecosystem products rather than per-transaction infrastructure fees.
Product overview
N1 (formerly Layer N) is a Layer 1 blockchain for global, high-performance, trustless finance. The product portfolio consists of the N1 core blockchain platform with four native protocol modules (Orderbook, Atomics, Margining, and RFQ), along with first-party applications including 01 Exchange (a perpetual exchange) and TradeRush. The platform is designed with a decoupled settlement and execution architecture, enabling horizontal scaling as more nodes join the network. The original Nord Engine (trading-optimized rollup) has been superseded by the N1 architecture, with N-EVM in development as an optimized EVM compatible with the platform.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- 01 Exchange: A trading application on N1 featuring atomic transaction capabilities for bundled place and cancel actions.
- TradeRush
Products and services
- N1 Blockchain An L1 blockchain for global, high-performance, trustless finance featuring a decoupled settlement and execution layer architecture with horizontal scaling, native financial primitives (orderbook, margining, RFQ, Atomics), and TypeScript support for developers.
- 01 Exchange A perpetual exchange built on N1, featuring a high-throughput on-chain orderbook and the first application to expose the Atomics primitive for atomic transaction bundling.
- TradeRush A trading application built on N1 blockchain infrastructure and one of the first applications in the N1 ecosystem.
- Nord Engine A trading-optimized rollup engine that achieved 100,000+ TPS on closed testnet, featuring persistent write-bound performance, an Execute-Log-Periodically Sync Snap pipeline, and zkFraud proofs.
Quantifiable outcome
- 120,018 peak TPS achieved on Nord Engine closed testnet
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Layer N
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Layer N technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
Feature7 records
Layer N partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Luc FroehlichcoreFormer Fidelity International executive with 7 years as Global Head of Digital Asset Solutions. Brings expertise in RWA, TradFi, and tokenization strategies. Career includes Credit Suisse, fixed income trading for institutional clients from pension funds to central banks, and co-authorship of research papers with World Economic Forum.
- RISC ZerocoreLayer N leverages RISC Zero's zero-knowledge virtual machine (zkVM) for zkFraud Proofs. RISC Zero bridges ZKP research with widely-supported languages like C++ and Rust. Layer N ports its execution environment into RISC Zero's zkVM for trustless proving of correct execution.
- EigenDAcoreNord Engine uses EigenDA as its high-throughput data availability layer, streaming journals and guaranteeing availability for transaction epochs. Nord Engine was the first to saturate EigenDA's bandwidth allocation of 2 MBps.
- Null StudiosminorAffiliate company referenced on N1 website, separate entity building within the N1 ecosystem.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves1 record
Layer N competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Hyperliquid: Hyperliquid is an L1 with a fully on-chain central limit orderbook powering its perpetual exchange, the closest direct competitor to N1 in the on-chain orderbook and finance-native L1 category.
- dYdX: dYdX operates a sovereign chain (v4) purpose-built for perpetual trading, with on-chain orderbook matching and an application ecosystem directly comparable to N1's 01 Exchange and TradeRush.
- Sei Network: Sei is a high-throughput L1 explicitly optimized for trading and DeFi, with a parallelized order-matching engine and an application ecosystem overlapping N1's positioning as a finance-focused chain.
- Injective: Injective is an L1 built for decentralized finance with a native on-chain orderbook and derivatives infrastructure, competing for the same financial-application developers and liquidity N1 targets.
- Drift Protocol: Drift is a perpetual orderbook DEX with cross-margining, sitting in the same on-chain perps category as 01 Exchange and serves a similar audience of high-performance DeFi traders.
Broad incumbents
- Aptos: Aptos is a high-throughput general-purpose L1 with parallel execution, a broader portfolio chain that competes for institutional DeFi and tokenization workloads that N1 also targets.
- Sui: Sui is a high-throughput L1 with object-centric architecture and Move smart contracts, positioning as a general-purpose chain that captures financial app workloads overlapping with N1's TAM.
- Solana: Solana is the dominant high-performance L1 for trading, with deep liquidity, low latency, and a large developer community that competes head-on with N1's performance narrative for on-chain finance.
Emerging players
- Monad: Monad is an emerging EVM-compatible L1 promising high throughput and parallel execution; it targets similar DeFi and high-performance financial application workloads as N1 pre-mainnet.
Others
- StarkWare: StarkWare is a leading ZK-rollup infrastructure provider whose validity-proof-based scaling approach is an alternative scaling paradigm to N1's zkFraud + EigenDA rollup architecture.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Layer N social profiles
Digital presenceLayer N financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Layer N leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Layer N funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors8 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Layer N M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Layer N
What does Layer N do?
Layer N (now N1) develops and operates N1, a Layer 1 blockchain purpose-built for high-performance, trustless financial applications, featuring a decoupled settlement and execution architecture with horizontal scaling. The platform exposes native protocol modules — a fully on-chain central limit orderbook, Atomics (atomic transaction bundling), unified margining, and on-chain RFQ — and ships first-party applications 01 Exchange (perpetual exchange) and TradeRush. Revenue is captured through flagship applications and ecosystem products rather than per-transaction infrastructure fees.
Is Layer N a public or private company?
Layer N is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Layer N founded?
Layer N was founded in 2022. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Layer N based?
Layer N is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Layer N make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Transaction fees / Network fees are the primary driver. The others are application ecosystem value capture.
Who are Layer N's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Hyperliquid, dYdX, Sei Network, Injective and Drift Protocol. Broad incumbents are Aptos, Sui and Solana. Monad is listed as an emerging player. StarkWare is listed as an others.
Does Layer N have an API?
No public API is recorded for Layer N.
What industry is Layer N in?
Layer N's product category is Layer 1 Blockchain Infrastructure. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAPAAAA, Layer 1 Base Protocols & Consensus (execution, consensus, security, clients), with a secondary code of FSAPAAAH, Smart Contract Developer Platforms & Tooling (SDKs, APIs, frameworks, indexing). Its NAICS code is 518 and its SIC code is 7370.