Pharos Launches Public Test Network for Its Layer 1 Blockchain

Pharos, a Layer 1 public blockchain focused on integrating traditional finance (TradFi), launched its public development network on March 6.

Pharos Launches Public Test Network

This test network encourages developers to build and stress-test the platform, which is touted as the first EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain capable of reaching speeds of 2 gigas per second.

Pharos is led by a team with significant experience in the blockchain and tech industries. Founder and CEO Alex Zhang previously served as CTO of Ant Chain, while co-founder and CTO Meng Wu was the Chief Security Officer for Ant Financial’s Web3 division. Additionally, Pharos’ CMO, Laura Shen, was formerly the head of Solana Mobile Marketing at Solana Labs.

In November 2024, Pharos raised $8 million in a seed round led by Lightspeed Faction and Hack VC, with SNZ Capital as a strategic investor. Other backers of the project include Dispersion Capital, Hash Global, Generative Ventures, MH Ventures, Zion, and Chorus One.

Pharos has big plans to improve its test network in the coming weeks and the new features will include an open faucet system, enhanced developer tools and resources and expanded services support. This Devnet launch also has plans for a Testnet rollout that will bring the network closer to its production-ready version.

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