Ondo Finance has replaced its planned Ondo Chain blockchain with Ondo Network, an execution layer designed to handle high-speed trading away from public blockchains while settling asset transfers onchain. The network is already live beneath Ondo Perps, a perpetual futures platform offering round-the-clock markets linked to equities and commodities and accepting tokenized real-world assets as collateral.
The redesign reflects a practical constraint facing tokenized financial markets: public blockchains can provide transparent settlement, but their transaction-confirmation process can be poorly suited to the rapid order matching required for derivatives, spot trading, and other active markets. Ondo Network moves execution into secure hardware enclaves, while Ethereum currently provides the settlement layer for transfers.
Ian De Bode, chief executive officer of Ondo Finance, said the launch supersedes the company’s earlier Ondo Chain initiative rather than complementing it. Ondo had initially planned to build a full blockchain for bringing real-world assets onchain, but the team changed course after developing Ondo Perps and examining the execution requirements involved.
A division between trading and settlement
Ondo’s updated architecture separates the three functions that are commonly combined within a blockchain: execution, verification, and settlement. Trades and other complex calculations are processed inside hardware enclaves, while verification and the eventual movement of assets are handled through a different system.
That division would allow the platform to process activity at speeds that conventional public-ledger environments may struggle to support, particularly when many orders must be matched in rapid succession. Ethereum remains the first settlement network, and Ondo plans to add support for other public blockchains.
The model gives public blockchains a more focused role. Rather than recording every action involved in matching a trade, they can serve as the place where final asset movements are settled. This can reduce the amount of activity that must compete for blockspace while retaining onchain settlement for completed transactions.
Ondo describes the service as non-custodial, placing the network within a growing effort to build trading infrastructure that does not rely on a conventional centralized exchange holding customer assets. The company’s structure also introduces a more specialized trust model than one used by a fully public blockchain.
Attestors control approved enclave code
Under De Bode’s description, a decentralized set of entities called “attestors” determines which code is permitted to run inside the hardware enclaves. Their function is to verify that the enclave is operating approved software, creating a control layer around the code responsible for execution.
The approach places substantial weight on the attestor framework and the security of the enclaves. A public blockchain normally allows participants to independently inspect and reproduce transaction processing through network-wide validation. Ondo’s design instead relies on approved code running in protected computing environments, with settlement providing the public-facing endpoint for transfers.
De Bode said Ondo may eventually commit settled state to public blockchains, creating a durable and immutable record outside the enclave environment. For now, he said, that record remains inside the enclaves. The distinction will matter for users assessing how much trading history and system state can be independently examined on public networks before any future state-commitment feature is introduced.
Ondo’s model is aimed first at financial products that need rapid execution, but the company said the network could support a wider range of applications. Potential uses include spot markets, lending, structured products, and non-financial services requiring private and fast execution.
Perpetual futures provide the first test
Ondo Perps is the first application using the network. It offers perpetual futures tied to equities and commodities, combining a derivatives product familiar to crypto traders with collateral based on tokenized real-world assets.
That pairing makes the platform a direct test of whether tokenized collateral can support more active onchain market activity than simple holding or transfer. Perpetual futures require frequent pricing, collateral management, liquidations, and order execution. Those demands help explain why Ondo moved away from building a single chain that would perform every stage of the transaction process.
The company’s mid-July integration with the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation preceded a sharp increase in protocol activity, according to figures included in the launch material. Daily active addresses rose to 2,589 over three days following that integration. The figure offers an early measure of attention around Ondo’s market-infrastructure plans, though sustained use of Ondo Perps and its collateral system will offer a more direct indication of demand for the new execution layer.
The tokenized real-world asset market has surpassed $15 billion in total value, according to the supplied market figures. That market has largely centered on products such as tokenized U.S. Treasuries, funds, and credit instruments. Ondo’s execution-layer strategy extends the focus from issuing and holding tokenized assets toward using them within fast-moving financial applications.
ONDO token’s role remains unchanged
De Bode said the launch does not alter the role of the ONDO token. It remains the governance and ecosystem token for Ondo’s real-world asset and markets infrastructure, rather than becoming a separate token tied specifically to the new network.
ONDO was trading near $0.40 in the market snapshot supplied with the announcement, with a market capitalization close to $2 billion and a ranking around 41st among cryptocurrencies. The token had also posted a 16% gain during a period that included Ondo’s expansion into Japan’s financial ecosystem alongside SBI Group.
The coming deployment choices will shape how widely Ondo Network can be used. Adding settlement support beyond Ethereum would connect the execution layer to more onchain liquidity environments, while public commitments of settled state would give users a clearer permanent record of activity completed inside the enclave system. For now, Ondo Perps provides the first operating case for an architecture built around fast private execution and public onchain settlement.
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