LayerZero’s ZRO Rises 10% as Andreessen Horowitz Purchases $55M in Tokens.

Andreessen Horowitz Boosts LayerZero’s ZRO Investment with $55M Purchase, Strengthening Interoperability Protocol

LayerZero’s ZRO token experienced a sharp rise on Thursday after Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) announced a major increase in its investment in the interoperability protocol.

The venture capital giant’s crypto arm acquired an additional $55 million in ZRO tokens, with a commitment to a 3-year lock-up period, according to Ali Yahya, a general partner at a16z, in an X post. This follows a16z’s early support of LayerZero Labs, the company behind the protocol, having participated in both the 2022 $135 million Series A and the 2023 $120 million Series B funding rounds.

Following the announcement, ZRO surged 10% to $2.56 before pulling back slightly. Despite the dip, the token was still up by around 5% on the day, outperforming the broader CoinDesk 20 index and Bitcoin (BTC), which also saw gains.

LayerZero enables cross-chain communication, allowing different blockchains to interact through messaging protocols. The platform currently supports 125 blockchains and has facilitated over 145 million cross-chain messages, with $75 billion in value transferred. Key projects powered by LayerZero include PayPal’s stablecoin, decentralized finance platforms like Ethena and Pendle, and it was selected as a partner for Wyoming’s state-backed stablecoin project.

This latest injection of capital is set to fuel LayerZero’s plans to expand its technology beyond interoperability, focusing on areas such as token issuance, data management, governance, and database enhancements.