Cathie Wood Praises LayerZero's Critical Role in Cross-Chain Messaging
Cathie Wood, CEO of ARK Invest, has highlighted the importance of LayerZero (ZRO) in cross-chain messaging. She praised the team behind the interoperability protocol on X, saying that most investors 'do not appreciate the important role' it plays. This comes after Lorenzo Valente, ARK's director of research for digital assets, argued that LayerZero's interoperability business alone will likely reach nine-figure annual recurring revenue (ARR).
Valente made his argument in a post on Thursday, saying that messaging protocols have become critical infrastructure as app-specific chains and rollups multiply. He also noted that demand grows further as tokenized real-world assets move on-chain.
A September 3 ARK paper puts scale behind the claim, crediting LayerZero with $280 billion in cumulative value transferred and 44% of cross-chain volume in the first half of 2024. However, LayerZero does not own the category - Circle's CCTP came second at 41%, and Chainlink pushes a similar cross-chain pitch through CCIP.
Despite Cathie Wood's endorsement, traders have not followed her in the short term. ZRO trades near $1.04, down about 6% on the day. Its market value stands at $368.7 million, ranking it 120th. However, the monthly picture looks stronger - ZRO has added roughly 36% over the past month.