Virtual Labs
Off-chain execution infrastructure based on ZK state channels
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About Virtual Labs
Virtual Labs is a ZK infrastructure project focused on a technology called Virtual Rollups, which is essentially a ZK-powered state channel. Its core business is to provide dApps with zero-gas, instant, and cross-chain transaction capabilities, aiming to make blockchain interactions feel as smooth as using a centralized web2 application.
The core competitiveness lies in its unique technical architecture: by combining zero-knowledge proofs with state channels, it moves most transactions off-chain while maintaining security through cryptographic verification on the main chain. This solves the long-standing blockchain pain points of high gas fees, network latency, and fragmented cross-chain liquidity. Users can trade, game, or interact socially without worrying about transaction costs or waiting for block confirmations.
In the past six months (2026-02-28 to 2026-08-29), Virtual Labs has primarily focused on technical iteration and ecosystem expansion. The team has been optimizing the performance of its ZK proof generation to further reduce latency, while actively integrating with multiple public chains and wallets to broaden its reach. Several early partner dApps have begun testing on its infrastructure, particularly in the DeFi and gaming sectors. The project has also been working on improving its developer documentation and SDKs to lower the barrier for builders.
One notable challenge within the last two years is that the project faced criticism regarding the centralization risks of its state channel design in certain scenarios, as well as delays in delivering some promised features. However, these issues have been addressed through continuous updates and transparent communication with the community.
Over the past six months, Virtual Labs has made significant strides in ZK infrastructure. In March 2026, the team secured a $1.2M pre-seed round led by OP Crypto at a $20M valuation, with participation from Byzantine Marine, Koyamaki Ventures, and NEAR Foundation. Technically, they open-sourced Plonky2 optimizations achieving 4,000x faster proof generation (from ~2 minutes to 32ms for 64K data entries) and introduced Zaratan, a proof system enabling native integer succinct proofs, reducing RSA-style overhead by ~5,000x. Their core focus remains ZK State Channels (Virtual Rollups), enabling zero-gas, zero-latency transactions for DEXs, gaming, and social platforms. Development priorities include: 1) productionizing the ZK Accumulator with MuSig2/BLS aggregation; 2) launching a cross-chain bridge using identical smart contracts to eliminate reorg risks; 3) integrating multi-prover architecture (fraud proofs + TEE + ZK) for Arbitrum settlement. The roadmap targets a public testnet for Virtual Rollups in Q4 2026, followed by mainnet launch in early 2027, with emphasis on institutional-grade security and developer tooling.
José Betancourt (Founder & CEO)
José Betancourt is the founder and CEO of Virtual Labs. He started the project while at Yale, initially building a self-verified data protocol that entered Binance Labs Season 5 and raised $2M pre-seed. The work evolved into Virtual Rollups, infrastructure for zero-gas, near-instant on-chain apps. He dropped out of Yale to focus on the company. His LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/josebetancourt5, Twitter: x.com/josebetandcourt.