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Hotstuff Labs has launched the public testnet for Hotstuff L1, a DeFi-native Layer 1 built around a custom consensus called DracoBFT. The chain combines a high-performance on-chain order book with a programmable finance routing layer designed to connect trading, payments, and real-world settlement.
Rather than positioning itself as a general-purpose smart contract platform, Hotstuff L1 is framed as a routing layer where validators act as “last-mile” financial gateways. Validators can provide on-demand financial services — for example, fiat on/off-ramps, card issuance, regional payments and remittances — effectively becoming access points for real-world money on the network.
Hotstuff Labs’ backers include Delphi Digital, Dialectic, Stake Capital, Tykhe Ventures, and founders from prominent DeFi projects such as 1inch, Safe, Biconomy, and Socket.
Julien Bouteloup, Founder of Stake Capital Group, commented: “Hotstuff Labs is building a performant chain that links trading, payments, and real-world settlement into one coherent layer. The vision is to enable validators to become active financial access points. That aligns perfectly with how we see the future of infrastructure: decentralised, compliant, and directly plugged into the global economy.”
Validators on Hotstuff L1 can opt in as permissioned service providers and are expected to do more than secure consensus. Stablecoin rails deliver off-chain liquidity to the core trading engine while validators provide the last-mile connectivity for fiat rails, payments, and FX flows. Integrations with payment platforms, on/off-ramps, banking partners, and card programs are built into the chain so validators can monetize services — for example, powering fiat-to-stablecoin ramps, supporting local accounts and card programs, running remittance corridors, and bridging currencies and regions.
The network routes users to specific validators based on stake, historical performance, and quality of service. Lightweight zero-knowledge proofs are used to enable trustless verification of on-chain and select off-chain actions, supporting a routing model that matches requests to providers while maintaining verifiability.
Vyom Sharma, Co-Founder and CEO of Hotstuff Labs, described the approach: “Most chains validate blocks. Hotstuff validates and delivers trustless access to money. It’s the Uber for financial validators, routing every flow to the right provider…We’re building a Layer 1 that can connect a trader in Asia, a remittance corridor in LATAM, and a card issuer in Europe on the same settlement fabric.”
The public testnet is now open to traders, quant teams, builders, fintech firms, and stablecoin infrastructure providers. Early participants can experiment with perpetual and spot trading, multi-venue vaults, and market infrastructure native to the L1. Validators and node operators can deploy DracoBFT nodes to benchmark performance and test the network’s financial service modules.
Hotstuff Labs says the testnet phase is intended to gather real-world feedback on trading performance, service routing, and the integrations that will enable validators to act as monetizable financial access points. Interested parties can join the testnet to trial trading primitives, payments, FX workflows, and the settlement fabric being developed on Hotstuff L1.