What Telos does

Telos is a decentralized blockchain infrastructure platform founded in 2018 and operated by the Telos Foundation, a US-governed ownerless entity headquartered in London with a regional R&D unit (SNARKtor Labs) in Hong Kong. The platform is built on two native layers: Telos Zero, a DPoS consensus layer providing staking, governance, and block production, and Telos EVM, an Ethereum Virtual Machine implementation marketed as the world's fastest, claiming over 15,000 TPS, 0.5-second block times, and approximately $0.01 gas fees with no mempool or front-running risk.

The product surface extends beyond the core L1 to include Telos Privacy and zkWallet (zkSNARK-based private transfers of TLOS and USDC, adapted from the zkBob protocol), SNARKtor (a recursive proof aggregation protocol co-developed with IOGK/IOHK and published as an IACR whitepaper), Telos Decide (an on-chain governance engine for DAOs with ballot, treasury, and committee tooling), and a LayerZero-powered cross-chain bridge. The ecosystem hosts over 100 dApps spanning DeFi, gaming, NFTs, wallets, and developer tooling, and the TLOS token is the native asset used for gas, staking, governance, and private payments; EVM gas fees are burned monthly, and the network entered a zero-inflation era in March 2026.

Telos makes money in modest, transaction-based ways: near-zero gas fees on Telos EVM (which are burned rather than captured), small TLOS-denominated fees for Telos Decide services (e.g., 10 TLOS per ballot, 500 TLOS per treasury), and TLOS-denominated block rewards paid to validators through token inflation. To date the company has raised only $9 million externally ($8M in November 2021 led by John Lilic and $1M in May 2024 from Presto Labs), employs 11–50 people, and pursues a product-led, community-driven, API-first go-to-market aimed at DeFi protocols, Web3 developers, enterprise privacy users, and DAO participants.

Name

Telos

Legal name

Telos Foundation, Inc.

Website

https://telos.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Telos operates a decentralized Layer 1 blockchain (Telos Zero) with a high-performance Ethereum Virtual Machine (Telos EVM), a native zkSNARK privacy layer and zkWallet, the SNARKtor recursive proof aggregation protocol, and Telos Decide on-chain governance, serving Web3 developers, DeFi protocols, enterprise privacy users, and DAOs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Blockchain Infrastructure

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)

SIC

Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200)

akta.pro primary industry

Layer 1 Base Protocols & Consensus (execution, consensus, security, clients) (FSAPAAAA)

Keywords

• Blockchain infrastructure
• EVM execution layer
• Zero-knowledge privacy
• On-chain governance
• Cross-chain bridging

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Transaction Fees (Gas): TLOS token is used for transaction fees (gas) across Telos EVM. Fees are negligible across the Telos Orbit network.
2. EVM Gas Fee Burns: EVM gas fees are collected and burned monthly, tying network usage back to TLOS token value through deflationary mechanics.
3. Validator Rewards: Block producers/validators earn block rewards through token inflation (TLOS tokens) for producing and verifying blocks on the Telos network.
4. Governance Service Fees: Telos Decide governance engine charges fees for certain services: 10 TLOS per ballot, 500 TLOS per treasury, 100 TLOS per committee, 1 TLOS per day for archival, with voting and workers services free.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels8 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Telos provides a high-performance blockchain ecosystem consisting of Telos EVM (an EVM-compatible execution layer with 15,000+ TPS and sub-second blocks), Telos Zero (a DPoS consensus and governance layer), a native zkSNARK privacy layer with the zkWallet for shielded TLOS/USDC transfers, the SNARKtor recursive proof aggregation protocol, Telos Decide on-chain governance tooling, a LayerZero-powered cross-chain bridge, and supporting infrastructure including block explorers and developer APIs. The platform is accessed directly by developers via RPC/APIs and by users via self-serve web wallets, with fees paid in TLOS token.

Product overview

Telos is a high-performance blockchain ecosystem comprising multiple interconnected products. The core infrastructure consists of Telos EVM (the execution layer, marketed as the world's fastest Ethereum Virtual Machine with 15K+ TPS) and Telos Zero (the L0/L1 consensus and governance layer). Built on top are Telos Privacy and zkWallet (providing zero-knowledge privacy for transactions using zkSNARKs adapted from zkBob), SNARKtor (enabling decentralized recursive proof aggregation for scalability), and Telos Decide (an on-chain governance engine for voting and DAO tooling). Supporting infrastructure includes the Telos Bridge (cross-chain via LayerZero), Teloscan block explorer, and staking/wallet services. The ecosystem supports over 100 dApps including DeFi, games, and NFT applications.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Telos EVM: The world's fastest Ethereum Virtual Machine - a bespoke, fully EVM-compatible blockchain capable of over 15,000 transactions per second with sub-second block times.
• Telos Zero
• zkWallet
• SNARKtor
• Telos Decide
• TLOS

Products and services

• Telos EVM High-performance Ethereum Virtual Machine execution layer marketed as the world's fastest EVM, capable of 15,000+ TPS and 4,000 complex swap transactions per second with sub-second block times and approximately $0.01 gas fees. Fully EVM-compatible with Solidity support and built for Web3 application development including DeFi, games, NFTs, and on-chain services.
• Telos Zero High-speed consensus and governance layer serving as the L0/L1 foundation of the Telos ecosystem, anchoring staking, block production, and on-chain governance for EVM and privacy applications running on top.
• Telos Privacy Layer Zero-knowledge privacy layer built natively on Telos EVM using zkSNARK technology, adapted from the zkBob protocol as zkTelos. Enables shielded transfers of TLOS and USDC with private sender, receiver, and amount details, plus compliance tools.
• zkWallet Web-based privacy wallet application for sending shielded TLOS and USDC transfers with encrypted memos and batch payment capabilities, accessible globally via zkwallet.telos.net without sales interaction.
• SNARKtor Decentralized recursive proof aggregation protocol that combines multiple transaction proofs into a single proof, designed to be integrated into existing blockchain systems to dramatically enhance scalability, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and privacy of ZK-SNARK applications.
• Telos Decide On-chain governance engine offering voting services, ballot hosting, DAC/DAO tools, custom token treasuries, committee management, integrated payroll systems, and traceable vote integrity for organizations, DAOs, and developers on Telos Zero. Charges TLOS-denominated fees for ballots (10 TLOS), treasuries (500 TLOS), committees (100 TLOS), and archival (1 TLOS/day), with voting and workers services free.
• Telos Bridge Cross-chain bridge powered by LayerZero for transferring tokens, NFTs, and assets between Telos and other blockchains, accessed at bridge.telos.net.
• Teloscan Block explorer for Telos EVM providing transaction visibility, contract interaction, and network metrics for developers and users at teloscan.io.
• Teloswap Official Uniswap v3 deployment on Telos EVM providing token swap functionality to Telos users through a familiar interface at swap.telos.net.

Quantifiable outcome

• 15,000+ TPS throughput vs. typical EVM chains at hundreds to low thousands
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability1 record

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• IOGK (Input Output Global / IOHK)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 February 2024Collaborative research effort between Telos researchers (encompassing tEVM and Telos Zero) and IOGK/IOHK (known for contributions to Cardano and Daedalus) culminating in the SNARKtor Whitepaper publication. The partnership delivered pivotal findings on scaling blockchains with zk-SNARK technology.
• LayerZerocoreTechnology or IntegrationLayerZero powers the Telos Bridge as the most trusted and widely used cross-chain messaging protocol. This integration enables tokens, NFTs, and assets to be bridged between Telos and other blockchains.
• zkBobcoreTechnology or IntegrationTelos Privacy is adapted from the zkBob protocol and deployed on Telos EVM as the zkTelos protocol with support for WTLOS and USDC.e tokens. This provides the foundational technology for shielded transactions.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Polygon: Ethereum scaling ecosystem with strong ZK focus (Polygon zkEVM, Polygon Hermez). Telos's SNARKtor and planned L2 zkEVM place it in direct competition for ZK proof aggregation and Ethereum-aligned scaling.
• Fantom: EVM-compatible Layer 1 emphasizing fast finality and low fees for DeFi. Closely comparable to Telos's positioning as a fast, cheap EVM alternative.
• Sui: High-throughput Layer 1 (Move-based) emphasizing parallel execution and low-latency settlement. Competes with Telos for the same 'fast, low-fee L1' mindshare in Web3.
• NEAR Protocol: Sharded Layer 1 with EVM compatibility and emphasis on low-cost execution. Competes with Telos for Web3 developers seeking performance and predictable fees.
• Solana: High-throughput Layer 1 blockchain competing directly with Telos on performance (TPS, low fees) and EVM-compatible (or EVM-adjacent) execution. Both target DeFi, gaming, and payments at scale.
• Avalanche: High-performance Layer 1 with EVM-compatible C-Chain targeting DeFi, gaming, and enterprise. Competes with Telos on throughput, low fees, and EVM developer ergonomics.
• Aptos: High-performance Layer 1 (Move-based) targeting DeFi, gaming, and payments. Comparable to Telos on the 'fast, scalable L1' positioning, though with a different execution model.

Emerging players

• zkSync: ZK-rollup Layer 2 on Ethereum using SNARK-based validity proofs. Competes with Telos's planned SNARKtor-powered zkEVM L2 and shares the privacy/scaling narrative.
• Celestia: Modular blockchain providing data availability and consensus as a service. Comparable to Telos's SNARKtor/zero-infrastructure thesis on enabling other chains to scale via dedicated primitives.
• StarkWare: Pioneer in ZK-STARK proof systems powering Starknet and StarkEx. Comparable to Telos's SNARKtor on the ZK proof aggregation/scaling axis, though Telos focuses on SNARKs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/HelloTelos
• GitHubgithub.com/telosnetwork

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Telos