Why Austin Left Solana to Found Double Zero

Join Alex Golding as he sits down with Austin Federa, Co-founder of DoubleZero, to explore how they're building permissionless high-performance fiber infrastructure that could revolutionize blockchain performance. Austin shares the technical vision behind creating a parallel internet for distributed systems, starting with Solana validators as their initial market.

DoubleZero: https://doublezero.xyz

🎯 Key Highlights

▸ The internet bottleneck: why high-performance blockchains are hitting infrastructure limits

▸ Building a parallel internet with dedicated fiber, FPGAs, and multicast technology

▸ Proof of utility: weaponizing greed and capitalism for positive-sum network outcomes

▸ 16% of Solana network already running on testnet despite limited infrastructure

▸ Technical deep-dive: signature verification, packet deduplication, and jitter reduction

▸ Token economics and bandwidth contribution models vs traditional staking

▸ Long-term vision: replacing IP addresses with public-private key routing

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🧠 Follow the Alpha

▸ Austin's Twitter: @Austin_Federa

▸ DoubleZero's Twitter: @doublezero

🔗 Connect with Delphi

🌐 Portal: https://delphidigital.io/

🐦 Twitter: https://x.com/delphi_digital

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/delphi-digital/

🎧 Listen on

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/62PR1RigLG2YN5Pelq6UY9?si=18ac7ccf36ab4753&nd=1&dlsi=50105fd66e6c4124

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-delphi-podcast/id1438148082

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9Yy99ZlQIX9-PdG_xHj43Q

Timestamps

00:00 — Intro: Austin Federa and the internet bottleneck problem

02:00 — Building a parallel internet for distributed systems

06:00 — The Firedancer project and million TPS potential

09:15 — Technical architecture: fiber, FPGAs, and multicast technology

13:30 — Signature verification and packet deduplication explained

17:15 — Proof of utility: Shapley values and economic incentives

23:45 — Validator onboarding and network connection process

29:30 — Testnet success: 16% of Solana network adoption

33:15 — Latency, jitter, and bandwidth improvements explained

39:00 — Token economics: 2Z token and payment models

44:45 — Access models vs staking requirements for enterprises

51:30 — Validators.app badges and network transparency

59:15 — Governance roadmap: from mainnet beta to full decentralization

01:05:45 — Long-term vision: replacing IP addresses and DNS

01:09:15 — Lightning round: most misunderstood aspects

01:12:30 — Five-year vision: parallel internet for high performance systems

Disclaimer

This podcast is strictly informational and educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any tokens or securities or to make any financial decisions. Do not trade or invest in any project, tokens, or securities based upon this podcast episode. The host and members at Delphi Ventures may personally own tokens or art that are mentioned on the podcast.