Fogo launches public testnet of high-speed Layer 1 SVM chain for onchain trading

Fogo, the Layer 1 blockchain created by former Wall Street executives, launched its public testnet on Tuesday.Initial contributors claim that the architecture is designed to replicate TradFi execution standards in a decentralized format, providing real-time execution and institutional-scale infrastructure for on-chain trading."The network is built to handle institutional-scale throughput with unmatched responsiveness, merging the speed and determinism of TradFi with the open, decentralized ethos of crypto," the team at Fogo said.The project aims to deliver 40-millisecond block times, and other features include reduced exposure to MEV, co-located node infrastructure for real-time trade execution, and an improved user experience through session-based account management. These features, combined with native infrastructure and vertical integration, uniquely position Fogo to offer onchain trading products, the project said.“We’ve rebuilt the trading stack from the ground up to build upon what Hyperliquid has made possible and bring it to the SVM ecosystem," said Douglas Colkitt, Initial Fogo Contributor and former Researcher at Citadel Securities.In January, Fogo Foundation raised $8 million through a community-first funding round on angel investor platform Echo. Fogo's private testnet launched at the end of March.The team at Fogo states that it plans to be the first to implement the Firedancer validator client software live in its complete form. Its validator setup currently uses a fork of Frankendancer client and intends to transition to Firedancer over time.Firedancer is a high-performance, independent validator client for the Solana blockchain, developed by Jump Crypto, a division of Jump Trading Group. Meanwhile, Frankendancer is a hybrid validator client that integrates Firedancer’s high-performance components (e.g., networking stack and block production) with the existing Solana Labs validator client (Agave) for other functionalities like execution and consensus. It serves as a transitional step toward the full implementation of Firedancer.Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.