Ondo launches Ondo Network, shifting from chain concept to execution layer

A shift from “chain” to “network”

According to Ondo, the new system should be viewed as the next step in its earlier Ondo Chain idea rather than a standalone blockchain in its current form. The company said the network is not a blockchain today and does not need to be one for its intended use, although it suggested that distinction could blur as the design develops.

The change reflects a different view of where market infrastructure needs improvement. Ondo said it came to believe that execution, not settlement, was the main bottleneck after building Ondo Perps and speaking with customers.

How the architecture works

The Ondo Network is designed to split execution from verification and final settlement. In Ondo’s description, hardware enclaves handle private, high-speed execution, while decentralized attestors provide verifiability. Public blockchains are used for settling asset transfers.

At launch, those transfers settle on Ethereum. Ondo said it plans to add support for additional public blockchains over time. For now, the settled-state record remains within the enclaves.

The company presented this structure as a way to preserve execution speed and privacy while still anchoring transfers to public-chain settlement. The article did not state a timeline for any broader rollout beyond the first version now being live.

Ondo Perps goes first

The first application running on the new network is Ondo Perps, the company’s perpetual futures platform. Ondo described the network, however, as a general-purpose system rather than one built only for derivatives.

It said the same infrastructure could support other market types, including spot trading, structured products, and lending markets. Those potential uses were presented as part of the network’s broader scope, not as products already launched.

What is live now and what is still planned

Several elements mentioned by Ondo remain prospective rather than active features in the current release. These include a broader set of attestors, proof-of-stake security, on-chain settlement of state, additional cryptographic proofs, and selective privacy.

That distinction matters because the launch marks an initial deployment, not a finished version of the platform. The company outlined these components as future directions as it continues developing the network.

Ondo also said the ONDO token will continue to serve as the governance and ecosystem token across its real-world asset and markets infrastructure.

The launch shows Ondo refining its infrastructure strategy around execution-heavy market applications instead of positioning the project primarily as another blockchain. In the version now live, Ethereum remains the settlement layer for transfers, Ondo Perps is the first production application, and several broader security and privacy features are still on the roadmap rather than implemented.