# Bryan Pellegrino

> Bryan Pellegrino is the Vancouver-based co-founder and CEO of LayerZero Labs. A former professional poker player, he moved through sports data, machine learning and crypto before a blockchain game exposed the cross-chain messaging problem that led to LayerZero. In 2026, the company announced Zero and ATLAS as an expansion into blockchain and market infrastructure.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at LayerZero Labs
- **Organizations:** LayerZero Labs, OpenToken, BuzzDraft
- **From:** Danbury, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** University of New Hampshire
- **Known for:** Co-founded LayerZero Labs and co-authored its original interoperability white paper., Finished second in a 2012 World Series of Poker event., Co-authored the 2020 Supremus poker AI research paper.

## Career timeline

- **2005–2008** — Studied computer science at the University of New Hampshire and worked in its networking lab, where he met Ryan Zarick and Caleb Banister.
- **2008–2014** — Played poker professionally; finished runner-up in a 2012 World Series of Poker event.
- **2011–2012** — Joined fantasy sports company BuzzDraft and became CEO before its acquisition.
- **2016** — Sold a baseball machine-learning tool to several Major League Baseball clubs.
- **2018** — Launched OpenToken with Daniel Chen.
- **2020** — Co-authored research on the poker AI Supremus with Zarick, Banister and Noam Brown.
- **2021** — Co-founded LayerZero Labs with Zarick and Banister; the team released its interoperability white paper.
- **2022** — LayerZero launched Stargate and announced a $135 million Series A+ round co-led by Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.
- **2026** — LayerZero announced Zero, a new blockchain, and ATLAS, a proposed trading and settlement backend.

## Achievements

- Co-founded LayerZero Labs and co-authored its original interoperability white paper.
- Finished second in a 2012 World Series of Poker event.
- Co-authored the 2020 Supremus poker AI research paper.
- Built a baseball machine-learning tool sold to several MLB clubs.
- Led LayerZero Labs through a $135 million Series A+ fundraising round in 2022.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — LayerZero announced ATLAS, a proposed backend for trading liquidity and settlement on Zero.
- **2026-03** — LayerZero announced a partnership with Centrifuge to bring tokenized assets across multiple chains; Pellegrino commented on the partnership.
- **2026-02** — LayerZero announced Zero, a new blockchain initiative, and Tether announced a strategic investment in LayerZero Labs.
- **2026-01** — Pellegrino appeared on the a16z crypto podcast to discuss interoperability and company building.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/bryanpellegrino
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/PrimordialAA

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/bryan-pellegrino
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-29