Aligned Layer is a decentralised zero-knowledge proof verification, aggregation, and settlement infrastructure built as an Actively Validated Service on EigenLayer. The Proof Verification Layer went live on mainnet beta in November 2024 and is secured by more than 2.5 million ETH (over $7 billion) restaked across 47 EigenLayer operators. The project was founded in 2023 by Federico Carrone and Roberto "RJ" Catalán of LambdaClass and has raised approximately $23.6 million across seed, Series A, and a CoinList public sale, with the $ALIGN token generation event still officially undated as of May 2026.
What is Aligned Layer?
Aligned Layer addresses a structural problem in Ethereum's zero-knowledge ecosystem: verifying ZK proofs directly on Ethereum L1 is expensive and slow. Every rollup, bridge, or zkApp that wants finality on Ethereum has to pay mainnet gas to verify its own proofs. Aligned solves this by batching and verifying ZK proofs off-chain across a network of restaked operators, then settling a single attestation back to Ethereum. The team has reported verification costs falling by more than 90 percent in mainnet beta.
The project is incubated by LambdaClass, the Buenos Aires engineering firm with prior contributions to Starknet, zkSync, and Polygon Miden. Aligned now positions itself as a full-stack platform for building financial products on Ethereum — covering proof verification, proof aggregation, an execution client (Ethrex), and a Rollup-as-a-Service offering — rather than only a verification AVS.
How does Aligned Layer work?
The stack has three composable layers.
- Proof Verification Layer. A network of EigenLayer-restaked operators verifies ZK proofs from any major proving system, including SP1, RiscZero, Cairo, Kimchi, Jolt, and Halo2. The layer has been live on mainnet beta since November 2024, secured by 2.5 million-plus ETH across 47 operators.
- Proof Aggregation Service. Aggregates many individual proofs into a single succinct proof, dramatically reducing per-proof cost on Ethereum L1. The aggregation service shipped mainnet alpha in January 2026, with throughput of around 1,000 proofs per second.
- Ethrex and RaaS. Ethrex is a Rust-based Ethereum execution client built by LambdaClass and adopted as the execution backbone of Aligned's Rollup-as-a-Service product. RaaS lets enterprises spin up based ZK-rollups — where sequencing happens on Ethereum mainnet — that inherit Aligned's aggregation and EigenLayer-backed verification. Disclosed RaaS customers include Sovra, a digital-identity rollup serving more than six million Latin American users, and Loom Finance, a revenue-based financing protocol.
The verification layer has been audited by Consensys Diligence, Fuzzing Labs, Least Authority, and Trail of Bits. Least Authority completed a second AVS review in September 2025.
$ALIGN Token Information
Key Metrics
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Token ticker | $ALIGN |
| Total supply | 10,000,000,000 ALIGN |
| Initial circulating supply | 3,000,000,000 ALIGN (30% at TGE) |
| Public sale price | $0.03 (12-month vest) or $0.04 (6-month vest) |
| Implied FDV at public sale | $300M – $400M |
| TGE | Not announced as of May 2026 |
| Network | Ethereum (Aligned AVS on EigenLayer) |
$ALIGN Token Use Case
According to Aligned's published tokenomics, $ALIGN has two core functions.
Verification payments. Builders can either pay per proof or stake tokens for monthly unlimited verification access through a subscription model. This positions $ALIGN as a usage-driven asset whose demand scales with ZK proof throughput across partner chains.
Network security. Stakers earn protocol fees in exchange for securing verification and aggregation. The long-term model is dual-stake — $ALIGN staking alongside EigenLayer-restaked ETH — once native operator decentralisation goes live.
$ALIGN Token Listing
$ALIGN is not yet tradeable on any centralised exchange. The token is currently available on Whales Market pre-market, where eligible participants can buy or sell expected $ALIGN allocations before the official token generation event. Pre-market pricing reflects what willing buyers and sellers currently agree on for an expected allocation; it does not forecast the post-launch token price.
$ALIGN Tokenomics & Fundraising
Tokenomics
Aligned's published allocation, confirmed by PANews:
- Ecosystem & Community — 44%. 59.09% unlocked at launch, remainder linear over 30 months.
- Team — 23.5%. 1-year cliff, then 40% unlock, with the remaining 60% linear over the next 18 months.
- Investors — 22.5%. Same vesting schedule as team.
- Foundation — 10%. 40% unlocked at launch, remainder linear over 30 months.
A Genesis Drop has been mapped across five waves: developers and GitHub contributors, the Discord community, Galxe quest participants, distinguished contributors (Protocol Guild, L2BEAT, ZachXBT, ZK Podcast), and roughly 891,000 wallets that held $STRK, $MINA, $ZK, $POL, $SCR, $TAIKO, or $EIGEN at each token's all-time-low snapshot. Registration for the Genesis Drop closed on 23 December 2024. The official Aligned blog has not consolidated the airdrop into a single headline percentage; secondary sources have cited figures ranging from 8.74% across waves to 26% of supply, and the discrepancy is itself worth flagging.
Fundraising
- Seed round — April 2024, $2.6M led by Lemniscap with participation from Bankless Ventures, Paper Ventures, StarkWare, O(1) Labs, and Sreeram Kannan.
- Series A — April 2024, $20M led by Hack VC with participation from dao5, Nomad Capital, Finality Capital, Symbolic Capital, and L2 Iterative.
- Public sale — January 2025, ~$1M via CoinList: 166,666,667 ALIGN (about 1.67% of supply) at either $0.03 (12-month vest) or $0.04 (6-month vest), implying a $300M or $400M FDV depending on the option.
The cumulative disclosed raise is approximately $23.6 million. Some research aggregators have cited a $35M+ Series A figure; this does not appear in any primary press release from Hack VC, CoinDesk, The Block, or Aligned's own communications, all of which describe the Series A as $20 million. The verifiable number is $20 million unless Aligned officially states otherwise.
Aligned Layer Roadmap & Team
Roadmap
Per the official 2025 recap and tokenomics post, four priorities define Aligned's 2026 execution.
- Token Generation Event for $ALIGN. No date is officially confirmed as of May 2026; speculative mid-2026 timing has circulated in secondary commentary but is not on the record.
- Proof Aggregation Service moves from mainnet alpha to general availability.
- ZK Bridge between Ethereum and Aligned-secured chains.
- Operator decentralisation beyond the EigenLayer set, with the introduction of dual-staking that pairs native $ALIGN staking with restaked ETH.
Continued Rollup-as-a-Service rollout for institutional customers via Ethrex is also a stated priority, on top of expanded support for additional proving systems.
Team
Aligned Layer is headquartered in Buenos Aires with team distribution across LambdaClass offices in Montevideo and Barcelona. Leadership disclosed publicly:
- Federico Carrone — Co-Founder. Founder of LambdaClass since 2013; has worked on Starknet, zkSync, and Polygon Miden tooling.
- Roberto José "RJ" Catalán — Co-Founder. Former senior software developer at LambdaClass; founder of Yet Another Company; co-founder of Jigen.
- Diego Kingston — Head of Research, with a focus on post-quantum security.
Mauro Toscano — Head of Engineering.
Conclusion
Aligned Layer has quietly built one of the more credentialed pieces of ZK infrastructure on Ethereum: a verification AVS secured by more than $7 billion in restaked ETH, four major audits, a working Rust execution client in Ethrex, and live Rollup-as-a-Service customers already serving millions of users. The two open questions for any retail reader are the $ALIGN TGE itself — still officially undated as of May 2026 — and the final consolidated airdrop allocation, which differs across secondary sources. For builders, however, Aligned's product surface from verification through to RaaS is already in production.
FAQs
Is $ALIGN a token I can buy today?
Not on a centralised exchange. As of May 2026, no TGE date has been officially announced by Aligned, and $ALIGN is not listed on any major CEX. The token is currently available on Whales Market pre-market for participants who want to express directional conviction ahead of an eventual launch.
How much has Aligned Layer raised, and from which investors?
Aligned has raised approximately $23.6 million across three disclosed rounds: a $2.6M seed in April 2024 led by Lemniscap, a $20M Series A in April 2024 led by Hack VC with participation from dao5, Nomad Capital, Finality Capital, Symbolic Capital, and L2 Iterative, and approximately $1M via the CoinList public sale in January 2025.
Is Aligned Layer its own L1?
No. Aligned Layer is an EigenLayer Actively Validated Service on Ethereum, not a standalone L1. Security is inherited from restaked ETH operated by 47-plus operators securing more than $7 billion in stake.
What is the $ALIGN total supply and how is it allocated?
Total supply is 10 billion $ALIGN, with 3 billion (30%) circulating at TGE. Allocations are 44% to Ecosystem and Community, 23.5% to Team, 22.5% to Investors, and 10% to Foundation. Team and investor vesting includes a one-year cliff followed by a 30-month linear schedule.
Where can I trade $ALIGN before TGE?
$ALIGN is listed on Whales Market pre-market, where eligible participants can buy or sell expected $ALIGN allocations before any official token generation event. Pre-market pricing reflects what willing buyers and sellers currently agree on for an expected allocation and does not forecast the post-launch token price.