Hotstuff Labs Launches Hotstuff, a DeFi-Native Layer 1 Connecting On-Chain Trading to Global Fiat Rails

[PRESS RELEASE – Singapore, Singapore, December 5th, 2025]

Hotstuff laboratories today announced the public testnet Hot stuff L1a DeFi Layer 1 blockchain, powered by DracoBFTa tailor-made consensus protocol. Hotstuff L1 is a purpose-built chain that combines a high-performance on-chain order book with a programmable financial routing layer where validators act as last-mile gateways for trading, payments and fiat trails.

Unlike general purpose chains, Hotstuff L1 is designed as a Uber-style routing layer where validators provide on-demand financial access in the real world.

Hotstuff Labs is backed by top investors, including Delphi Digital, Dialectics, Equity, Tykhe Venturesand the founders of leading DeFi protocols such as 1 inch, safe, biconomy, socketand more.

Julien Bouteloup, Founder of Betting Capital Groupsaid: “Hotstuff Labs is building a high-performance chain that connects trading, payments and real-world settlements in one cohesive layer. The vision is to enable validators to become active financial access points. That fits perfectly with how we see the future of infrastructure: decentralized, compliant and directly connected to the global economy.”

Validators as financial access points

In addition to trading, Hotstuff L1 is designed to allow validators to sign up as authorized financial services providers. On Hotstuff, validators are not just for consensus, they act as global financial access points for both the main trading engine and end users.

• For the core trading engineStablecoin rails enable access to offchain liquidity.
• For end usersValidators unlock last-mile connectivity for fiatcrypto on/off ramps, payments, and FX use cases.

Deep integrations with leading payment platforms, on-ramps, banking partners and on-chain card programs enable validators to make money by:

• Power supply fiat stablecoin on/off ramps
• Enable regional payment and money transfer rails
• Publish or support maps and local accounts
• Serves as last mile connectivity in different currencies and regions

The chain matches users to specific validators based on deployment, performance history and quality of service, as well as a routing layer combined with lightweight zero-knowledge proofs for reliable verification of both on-chain and off-chain actions.

“Most chains validate blocks. Hotstuff validates and provides reliable access to funds. It’s the Uber for financial validators, directing every flow to the right provider,” said Vyom Sharma, co-founder and CEO of Hotstuff Labs. “We are building a Layer 1 that can connect a merchant in Asia, a remittance corridor in LATAM and a card issuer in Europe on the same settlement fabric.”

Hotstuff public testnet: open now

The Hotstuff L1 public testnet is live and open to:

• Traders and quantities – can test early offender and spot trading, multi-location vaults, and market infrastructure built directly on the core L1.
• Builders, Fintechs and Stablecoin infrastructure providers – can collaborate with Hotstuff Labs to enable new trading primitives, payments, currencies and settlement use cases.
• Validators and node operators – can run DracoBFT nodes, benchmark performance and experiment with financial service modules.

Get started

About Hotstuff Labs

Hotstuff laboratories is building Hot stuff L1a purpose-built DeFi Layer 1 for programmable finance, powered by the DracoBFT consensus engine and a modular execution structure. With deep experience in finance, consensus, trading, cryptoeconomics and protocol design, the team creates a global routing layer that enables high-performance on-chain trading and connects payments, remittances and fiat trails on a single, coherent chain.

For press and partnerships: https://x.com/hotstuff_labs