Ondo Finance launched the Ondo Network on July 27, 2026, a new execution layer built to combine centralized exchange like speed with non-custodial trading and onchain settlement. CEO Ian De Bode described it as the “evolution” of the company’s previous blockchain, Ondo Chain.
Key Takeaways
- Ondo Finance launched the Ondo Network, an execution layer designed to combine exchange-like speed with non-custodial, onchain settlement.
- CEO Ian De Bode framed the network as an evolution of Ondo Chain, which the company will not run in parallel.
- The design separates execution from verification and settlement while keeping users in control of their assets.
- Ondo Perps is the first application, offering 24/7 perpetual futures on equities and commodities with tokenized assets as collateral.
- The ONDO token keeps its role as the governance and incentive token for the company’s real-world-asset ecosystem.
What Happened?
Ondo Finance, which builds infrastructure for tokenizing real world assets, announced the Ondo Network publicly for the first time. De Bode set out the details, describing a system that pairs exchange-grade execution speed with self custody so traders keep control of their assets while orders settle onchain. Ondo’s launch statement framed the network the same way.
The launch extends Ondo’s earlier roadmap. Asked whether the network replaces Ondo Chain, De Bode said
Why Ondo Changed Course?
Ondo originally planned to build a full blockchain, Ondo Chain, to bring real-world assets onchain. While developing its Ondo Perps exchange and speaking with customers, the company concluded that execution, not settlement, was the main bottleneck.
Traditional blockchains perform execution, verification, and settlement on the same ledger, providing durability and trust but making them too slow and transparent for high-performance trading, according to Ondo. The Ondo Network instead separates execution from settlement and verification while keeping users in control of their assets. The tension it targets runs through the wider crypto derivatives market, where speed and custody have long pulled in opposite directions.
Introducing the Ondo Network, the execution layer for open financial markets, and the evolution of our vision for Ondo Chain.
— Ondo Finance (@Ondo) July 27, 2026
Fast and private like a CEX. Verifiable like a blockchain. Non-custodial in design.
How it works:
→ Enclaves for private, high-speed execution
→… pic.twitter.com/EQZkX2OWF3
How the Architecture Works?
The network relies on secure hardware enclaves to isolate the execution environment. A decentralized network of attestors determines which code the enclaves are allowed to run, De Bode said, verifying that the approved code is being executed.
Asset transfers currently settle on Ethereum, with support for additional public blockchains planned. For now the settled record lives only inside the enclaves, and over time the network will commit that state to public blockchains for a durable and immutable record, an approach De Bode compared to the exchange Lighter.
De Bode described the design goal directly: The Ondo network is a new type of architecture that tries to land at a different configuration so that privacy is enabled by default, execution speed can rival centralized exchanges, while still maintaining the self-custodial design, verifiable fairness and permissionless access that makes blockchains so powerful
What Ondo Perps Adds?
Ondo Perps is the first application built on the network, offering 24/7 perpetual futures tied to equities and commodities, with tokenized real-world assets supported as collateral. It gives the network a live market on day one.
Ondo said the network is general-purpose and could support applications beyond perpetual futures, including spot markets, lending, structured products, and non-financial applications that require fast, private, and verifiable execution. The company added that the launch does not change the role of the ONDO token, which remains the governance and incentive token for its real-world asset ecosystem and market infrastructure.
CoinLaw’s Takeaway
The move from a full blockchain to an execution layer is a bet that speed, not settlement, is what has kept high-performance trading off public chains. By isolating execution inside hardware enclaves and settling on Ethereum, Ondo is trying to deliver the latency of a centralized venue without asking traders to give up custody, the tradeoff that has long separated exchanges from onchain markets.
Shutting down Ondo Chain and declining to run both networks signals a full commitment to the enclave-based model, and Ondo Perps gives that model an immediate use case. The harder question is how much verifiability traders will accept while approved code runs inside secure hardware and the durable public record is still being built out. That balance between exchange-grade performance and the transparency that defines public blockchains is the standard this architecture will be measured against, and it is one worth watching as tokenized markets expand.
