Executive Summary 

In January, we repositioned Pelagos to set the foundation for what's coming in 2026: protocol mainnet, our flagship product launch, and major ecosystem integrations like Midnight Network.

In January, we launched a new website that explains what Pelagos enables, how atomic execution works, and what can be built on top of it.

What the new site does:

Explains atomic execution clearly:

• How multichain actions are treated as single executions with one outcome

• Why this matters: no partial outcomes, no stranded funds, one auditable result

• Technical mechanism: every step evaluated upfront, commits everywhere or aborts everywhere

Shows product advantages for users and developers:

• For users: one unified balance, no bridges, no network switching, predictable settlement

• For developers: build multichain apps that behave like single-chain transactions, unified liquidity, atomic guarantees

Showcases tech and performance:

• Live testnet across Bitcoin, Sepolia, Solana, Polygon, BSC

• ~250ms block time, 100k+ TPS capability

• Parallel DAG-based consensus

Demonstrates what builders can create:

• Cross-chain DeFi (trades, liquidations, rebalances as atomic actions)

• Unified liquidity pools across chains

• High-performance appchains with shared security

• Real-time cross-chain state reactions

Features applications already built on Pelagos:

• LIQ Markets (cross-chain orderbook exchange)

• LayerCover (cross-chain insurance)

• Predicted (resolution marketplace)

Why it matters: This rebrand positions Pelagos as a leading execution layer in the web3 ecosystem. By showcasing real applications, technical capabilities, and a clear value proposition, we strengthen trust and credibility with investors, partners, developers and users. The messaging now reflects the execution-grade products we're building, setting up the stage for what we have in the pipeline for this year: protocol mainnet, flagship product launch, and major ecosystem integrations.

As outlined in our December update, we are building a flagship product in-house to anchor Pelagos' go-to-market. January was focused on validation and execution.

This product is an AI-native platform for creating, verifying, simulating, and deploying automated trading strategies across DEXs and CEXs with enforceable policy controls. Users generate strategies via LLM, verify them deterministically against a constrained DSL, simulate outcomes, then deploy with hard constraints: loss caps, slippage limits, venue whitelists, kill switches.

Pelagos serves as the decentralized execution layer beneath the platform. Validators produce a canonical stream of attested events, execution records, state diffs, and finality signals. This removes reliance on opaque backends and enables auditable, network-driven execution.

The platform will launch first for low-latency DEX and DEX↔️CEX automation, then expand into perps, non-EVM ecosystems, prediction markets, and privacy-focused environments.

Product Validation

• Over 20 calls with traders, quants, and liquidity providers to shape the MVP

• First litepaper draft prepared and being shared shortly with early users, community members, and investors

• Draft incentive and testing program prepared, with a targeted list of traders and arbitrageurs for early access

• Continued iteration with power users planned through and beyond V1

Technical Progress

MVP delivery in progress on Ethereum mainnet, major DEXs, and a first CEX integration (MEXC)

Core flow implemented:

• Strategies are created via LLM input

• Output is constrained by a verifiable DSL covering trading, arbitrage, and asset-management primitives

• Invalid strategies return compiler-style errors with fix suggestions, protecting users from incorrect logic or LLM hallucinations

Confidential execution:

• Strategy logic is encrypted and executed only inside Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs)

• One validator per TEE

• Validators participate in threshold cryptography but cannot read strategy logic in plaintext

• MVP shipped with TDH2 threshold decryption in TEE and an initial validator–TEE interface

Latency target:

• ~250ms p50 from market-relevant event to outbound transaction broadcast or CEX order request (venue confirmation handled separately)

• This enables an execution-grade loop-generate, verify, simulate, deploy with sub-second reaction times and confidential strategies that polling-based stacks cannot reliably support

The test is simple: Product-market fit will be measured by real usage and performance: if traders deploy capital, generate consistent returns, and continue using the platform, we've validated the model. If adoption or performance falls short, we'll have clear feedback loops to iterate quickly.

We formalized a major ecosystem partnership with Midnight Network (Cardano ecosystem). Initial scope: atomic swaps between Cardano Native Assets (ADA, CIP-26 tokens) and Midnight's native token, producing unified cross-chain execution records.

Longer-term: evaluating how Pelagos' execution model works with Midnight's privacy architecture, enabling private state transitions on Midnight to interact with external networks in a controlled, verifiable way.

Why this matters: This is our first major non-EVM integration and tests whether our execution model works across fundamentally different architectures. If successful, it validates that Pelagos can coordinate execution across any chain type, not just EVM-compatible networks.

Major Technical Milestone

We removed the last centralized component in our testnet execution flow. Outbound transactions are now signed in a decentralized way via threshold cryptography by TSS appchain, with no single party ever holding the private key.

Why this matters: This unlocks true "appchain → external chain" execution for Pelagos builders. Appchains can now trigger external actions while keeping signing decentralized and auditable at the network level. This is foundational for products like our flagship product and integrations like Midnight that require secure, decentralized outbound execution.

Team Updates

Two hires in January:

• 0xMachina, CMO - positioning, messaging, community, distribution, campaigns (led the rebrand execution)

• Camilo, Lead Designer - product and brand design end-to-end (led the website and visual identity)

Marketing

Key Wins

• Rebranded Pelagos and launched new website with clearer positioning around atomic execution

• Finalized updated messaging framework across all channels

• Established content strategy for X and blog (technical deep-dives, partner use cases, product education)

• Project visibility increased 35% month-over-month while community size remained stable indicating stronger reach and engagement quality

• Completed GTM preparation for flagship product launch

Flagship product

• Early February: front-end MVP and closed private alpha with full DEX↔️CEX strategy lifecycle

• Strategy simulation with PnL, drawdown, trade lists, and core risk metrics

• Phased security plan: threat modeling, targeted MVP review, and mainnet audit path

• By end of month: ~20 users running real strategies, expanded execution surface, and shareable performance envelopes without exposing strategy logic

Midnight & Cardano Integration

Core infrastructure:

• Integrate Midnight and Cardano as first-class data sources in Pelagos (ingestion + finality tracking) so Pelagos appchains can subscribe to Midnight intents and Cardano transactions/settlements

• Extend the external transaction signing/execution surface to support the first non-EVM targets needed for the Midnight/Cardano MVP, using the TSS appchain as the outbound signing coordinator

GTM

• Public release of our flagship product V1

• Onboard 50–100 power users

• Direct outreach to trading groups, KOLs, traders, and arbitrageurs

• Release incentives framework and referral program

What February Needs to Prove

1. Our flagship product works in production. Real users, real strategies, real money. If it works, we have a flagship product. If not, we learn what's broken.

2. Midnight integration validates the model. Can Pelagos enable meaningful interoperability between privacy-focused chains and public ecosystems? February tells us if the architecture holds across fundamentally different chain types.

3. Post-launch momentum sustains. Developer activity, partnership pipeline, and tester quality matter more than vanity metrics. We're measuring: builders shipping on testnet, partnership conversations converting, and power users entering the alpha version of our flagship product.

Useful introductions:

• Arbitrage desks

• Quant teams

• Active traders (especially CEX↔️CEX)

• Teams building cross-chain products

— The Pelagos Team

Executive Summary 

In January, we repositioned Pelagos to set the foundation for what's coming in 2026: protocol mainnet, our flagship product launch, and major ecosystem integrations like Midnight Network.

In January, we launched a new website that explains what Pelagos enables, how atomic execution works, and what can be built on top of it.

What the new site does:

Explains atomic execution clearly:

• How multichain actions are treated as single executions with one outcome

• Why this matters: no partial outcomes, no stranded funds, one auditable result

• Technical mechanism: every step evaluated upfront, commits everywhere or aborts everywhere

Shows product advantages for users and developers:

• For users: one unified balance, no bridges, no network switching, predictable settlement

• For developers: build multichain apps that behave like single-chain transactions, unified liquidity, atomic guarantees

Showcases tech and performance:

• Live testnet across Bitcoin, Sepolia, Solana, Polygon, BSC

• ~250ms block time, 100k+ TPS capability

• Parallel DAG-based consensus

Demonstrates what builders can create:

• Cross-chain DeFi (trades, liquidations, rebalances as atomic actions)

• Unified liquidity pools across chains

• High-performance appchains with shared security

• Real-time cross-chain state reactions

Features applications already built on Pelagos:

• LIQ Markets (cross-chain orderbook exchange)

• LayerCover (cross-chain insurance)

• Predicted (resolution marketplace)

Why it matters: This rebrand positions Pelagos as a leading execution layer in the web3 ecosystem. By showcasing real applications, technical capabilities, and a clear value proposition, we strengthen trust and credibility with investors, partners, developers and users. The messaging now reflects the execution-grade products we're building, setting up the stage for what we have in the pipeline for this year: protocol mainnet, flagship product launch, and major ecosystem integrations.

As outlined in our December update, we are building a flagship product in-house to anchor Pelagos' go-to-market. January was focused on validation and execution.

This product is an AI-native platform for creating, verifying, simulating, and deploying automated trading strategies across DEXs and CEXs with enforceable policy controls. Users generate strategies via LLM, verify them deterministically against a constrained DSL, simulate outcomes, then deploy with hard constraints: loss caps, slippage limits, venue whitelists, kill switches.

Pelagos serves as the decentralized execution layer beneath the platform. Validators produce a canonical stream of attested events, execution records, state diffs, and finality signals. This removes reliance on opaque backends and enables auditable, network-driven execution.

The platform will launch first for low-latency DEX and DEX↔️CEX automation, then expand into perps, non-EVM ecosystems, prediction markets, and privacy-focused environments.

Product Validation

• Over 20 calls with traders, quants, and liquidity providers to shape the MVP

• First litepaper draft prepared and being shared shortly with early users, community members, and investors

• Draft incentive and testing program prepared, with a targeted list of traders and arbitrageurs for early access

• Continued iteration with power users planned through and beyond V1

Technical Progress

MVP delivery in progress on Ethereum mainnet, major DEXs, and a first CEX integration (MEXC)

Core flow implemented:

• Strategies are created via LLM input

• Output is constrained by a verifiable DSL covering trading, arbitrage, and asset-management primitives

• Invalid strategies return compiler-style errors with fix suggestions, protecting users from incorrect logic or LLM hallucinations

Confidential execution:

• Strategy logic is encrypted and executed only inside Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs)

• One validator per TEE

• Validators participate in threshold cryptography but cannot read strategy logic in plaintext

• MVP shipped with TDH2 threshold decryption in TEE and an initial validator–TEE interface

Latency target:

• ~250ms p50 from market-relevant event to outbound transaction broadcast or CEX order request (venue confirmation handled separately)

• This enables an execution-grade loop-generate, verify, simulate, deploy with sub-second reaction times and confidential strategies that polling-based stacks cannot reliably support

The test is simple: Product-market fit will be measured by real usage and performance: if traders deploy capital, generate consistent returns, and continue using the platform, we've validated the model. If adoption or performance falls short, we'll have clear feedback loops to iterate quickly.

We formalized a major ecosystem partnership with Midnight Network (Cardano ecosystem). Initial scope: atomic swaps between Cardano Native Assets (ADA, CIP-26 tokens) and Midnight's native token, producing unified cross-chain execution records.

Longer-term: evaluating how Pelagos' execution model works with Midnight's privacy architecture, enabling private state transitions on Midnight to interact with external networks in a controlled, verifiable way.

Why this matters: This is our first major non-EVM integration and tests whether our execution model works across fundamentally different architectures. If successful, it validates that Pelagos can coordinate execution across any chain type, not just EVM-compatible networks.

Major Technical Milestone

We removed the last centralized component in our testnet execution flow. Outbound transactions are now signed in a decentralized way via threshold cryptography by TSS appchain, with no single party ever holding the private key.

Why this matters: This unlocks true "appchain → external chain" execution for Pelagos builders. Appchains can now trigger external actions while keeping signing decentralized and auditable at the network level. This is foundational for products like our flagship product and integrations like Midnight that require secure, decentralized outbound execution.

Team Updates

Two hires in January:

• 0xMachina, CMO - positioning, messaging, community, distribution, campaigns (led the rebrand execution)

• Camilo, Lead Designer - product and brand design end-to-end (led the website and visual identity)

Marketing

Key Wins

• Rebranded Pelagos and launched new website with clearer positioning around atomic execution

• Finalized updated messaging framework across all channels

• Established content strategy for X and blog (technical deep-dives, partner use cases, product education)

• Project visibility increased 35% month-over-month while community size remained stable indicating stronger reach and engagement quality

• Completed GTM preparation for flagship product launch

Flagship product

• Early February: front-end MVP and closed private alpha with full DEX↔️CEX strategy lifecycle

• Strategy simulation with PnL, drawdown, trade lists, and core risk metrics

• Phased security plan: threat modeling, targeted MVP review, and mainnet audit path

• By end of month: ~20 users running real strategies, expanded execution surface, and shareable performance envelopes without exposing strategy logic

Midnight & Cardano Integration

Core infrastructure:

• Integrate Midnight and Cardano as first-class data sources in Pelagos (ingestion + finality tracking) so Pelagos appchains can subscribe to Midnight intents and Cardano transactions/settlements

• Extend the external transaction signing/execution surface to support the first non-EVM targets needed for the Midnight/Cardano MVP, using the TSS appchain as the outbound signing coordinator

GTM

• Public release of our flagship product V1

• Onboard 50–100 power users

• Direct outreach to trading groups, KOLs, traders, and arbitrageurs

• Release incentives framework and referral program

What February Needs to Prove

1. Our flagship product works in production. Real users, real strategies, real money. If it works, we have a flagship product. If not, we learn what's broken.

2. Midnight integration validates the model. Can Pelagos enable meaningful interoperability between privacy-focused chains and public ecosystems? February tells us if the architecture holds across fundamentally different chain types.

3. Post-launch momentum sustains. Developer activity, partnership pipeline, and tester quality matter more than vanity metrics. We're measuring: builders shipping on testnet, partnership conversations converting, and power users entering the alpha version of our flagship product.

Useful introductions:

• Arbitrage desks

• Quant teams

• Active traders (especially CEX↔️CEX)

• Teams building cross-chain products

— The Pelagos Team