Keeta is a Layer 1 blockchain network designed to function as a scalable infrastructure for global finance, aiming to bridge traditional financial (TradFi) systems with decentralized finance (DeFi). The network focuses on providing high-throughput transaction processing, native support for real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, and integrated compliance features. ^{[11] [2]}

Overview

Keeta was founded in 2022 by Ty Schenk with the mission to create a universal interoperability layer for all payment networks and assets. The project aims to address the inefficiencies of what it terms "outdated financial rails" by enabling instant, low-cost transfers between different payment systems, blockchains, and currencies. The core design of the Keeta network integrates functionalities for regulatory compliance, digital identity, and asset management directly into its base layer, which contrasts with other blockchains that typically rely on application-layer smart contracts to provide these services. Its technical architecture is built on three primary mechanisms: a unique hybrid Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) design, a client-directed transaction validation process that eliminates the need for a traditional mempool, and a cloud-native framework designed for linear scalability. ^{[3] [10] [12]}

The project positions itself as a high-performance competitor to established Layer 1 networks such as Ethereum and Solana, citing superior transaction speeds and lower costs. It has garnered significant attention due to its backing by prominent figures in the technology industry, most notably Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google. Schmidt has publicly endorsed the project's vision and technical approach. ^[5]

In a statement regarding the project, Eric Schmidt commented, "Keeta represents a monumental step forward in the evolution of global financial infrastructure. The team has combined technical excellence with a clear understanding of the regulatory and institutional landscape... I'm confident in their long-term vision and proud to support a platform that has the potential to fundamentally reshape how value moves around the world." ^[11]

Ty Schenk, the founder and CEO, has stated, "Keeta really is the most advanced, scalable L1 in the world, and now we get to prove it." The network's strategy involves providing a robust platform for financial institutions, developers, and individuals to build and use applications that require high scalability and regulatory adherence. ^[10]

History

The development of the Keeta network began in 2023, following a successful fundraising round that secured $20 million. The project was founded a year prior, in 2022. The team focused on building the core infrastructure before introducing its native token to the public. ^{[9] [11]}

A significant milestone occurred in March 2025 with the Token Generation Event (TGE) of its native utility token, $KTA. The token was initially launched on the Base network, an Ethereum Layer 2 solution, which allowed for early liquidity and distribution before the Keeta mainnet was operational. The project's whitepaper, authored by Roy Keene, Tanveer Wahid, Ezra Ripps, and Ty Schenk, was made available around the same time, with a filename indicating a publication date of March 12, 2025. ^{[9] [3] [12]}

The Keeta testnet was launched in April 2025, allowing developers and users to experiment with the network's capabilities. In June 2025, Keeta conducted a public stress test to demonstrate its performance under heavy load. This test was a collaborative effort with Google's Spanner engineering team and was monitored by the third-party validator Chainspect. The test yielded results that surpassed the network's initial performance claims. ^[10]

Following the successful testnet phase, the Keeta mainnet officially launched on September 22, 2025. At the time of its launch, the network had already achieved significant traction on its testnet, with data indicating the existence of 235 million wallets holding a non-zero balance and 42 million wallets that had completed at least one transaction. ^[5]

Technology

Keeta's architecture is designed to optimize for transaction speed, scalability, and the specific needs of financial applications. It combines a unique data structure with a Delegated Proof of Stake consensus mechanism and integrates several financial primitives at the protocol level.

Architecture and Consensus

Keeta is a Layer 1 blockchain, meaning it is a standalone protocol that processes and finalizes transactions on its own chain without relying on another network for security or settlement. The network utilizes a Delegated Proof of Stake (dPoS) consensus mechanism, where token holders delegate the voting weight of their tokens to a select group of "representatives" (validators) responsible for securing the network. These representatives vote on the validity of transactions to reach a consensus. ^{[9] [12]}

A key element of Keeta's design is its use of a "virtual" Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) data structure. Unlike traditional blockchains that arrange all transactions into a single, linear chain of blocks, Keeta gives each account its own individual blockchain. Inter-account transactions create virtual links between these chains, forming a DAG-like structure. This design allows for transactions that do not affect the same accounts to be processed in parallel, which is a critical factor in its claimed scalability. Other high-performance blockchains, such as Avalanche and Fantom, also utilize DAG-like structures to enhance throughput. ^{[9] [12]}

Transaction Processing and Mempool Elimination

Keeta employs a "client-directed" approach to transaction validation that eliminates the traditional mempool, where transactions wait to be selected by block producers. This process is designed to reduce latency and prevent issues like front-running. The validation occurs in a two-phase voting process managed directly by the client initiating the transaction. ^[12]

1. Temporary Votes: The client sends the proposed transaction block(s) directly to a quorum of representatives. Each representative validates the transaction based on the current state of their ledger and, if valid, returns a signed "temporary vote." These votes are short-lived and serve to establish an initial consensus.
2. Permanent Votes: Once the client collects a sufficient number of temporary votes (a quorum based on delegated voting power), it requests "permanent votes" from the same representatives.
3. Vote Staple and Publication: The client bundles the transaction blocks and the permanent votes into a single package called a "vote staple." This staple is then broadcast to the entire network for publication. Nodes only forward staples that contain a valid quorum of permanent votes, ensuring that only finalized transactions are propagated.

This method contrasts with the probabilistic nature of mempool-based systems, providing more deterministic transaction settlement. ^[12]

Data Structures

The network utilizes standardized and extensible data formats to ensure long-term adaptability. Blocks are encoded in ASN.1 DER, a flexible and versioned container format, while votes are structured as X.509 certificates, a widely used standard for public key infrastructure. This allows for future upgrades and the adoption of new cryptographic methods without disrupting the network. For concurrency control, Keeta uses an Optimistic Concurrency Control (OCC) model, which assumes transactions are non-conflicting by default and handles conflicts upon detection, thereby increasing throughput. The system also implements partial ordering, where transactions are only ordered relative to others that affect the same state, rather than enforcing a total global order for all transactions. ^[12]

Performance

Keeta's performance claims are a central part of its value proposition. The network was designed to support over 10,000,000 transactions per second (TPS) with a transaction finality time of 400 milliseconds. Transaction finality refers to the time it takes for a transaction to be considered permanent and irreversible. The architecture is engineered to scale linearly with hardware resources, leveraging cloud-native technologies and common protocols like HTTP and WebSockets to take advantage of the scaling capabilities of cloud providers. ^{[3] [13] [12]}

These claims were tested during a public stress test in June 2025, which reportedly achieved a verified peak throughput of 11.2 million TPS. During this test, the network processed 26.5 billion transactions from over 30 million unique accounts, adding more than 2.2 terabytes of data to its ledger. The results positioned Keeta's performance as significantly higher than existing payment systems like Visa, which is estimated to handle up to 65,000 TPS, and other major blockchains like Solana. ^{[10] [9]}

Core Features

Keeta integrates several features directly into its protocol layer to support financial applications and ensure regulatory compliance.

• Built-in Compliance and Digital Identity: The network includes a native framework for Know Your Customer (KYC) and digital identity verification. It utilizes X.509 certificates, a standard in public key infrastructure, to associate verified identities with accounts. Trusted third-party KYC providers can issue these secure, privacy-preserving digital certificates, which can be used for instant identity verification across the network without exposing sensitive personally identifiable information (PII) on the ledger. ^{[3] [12]}
• Native Tokenization: Keeta features a built-in tokenization engine that allows participants to create and manage digital representations of any asset, including real-world assets like securities, real estate, or commodities. This is supported by a flexible account structure that includes keyed accounts (controlled by private keys) and generated accounts (deterministic addresses for specific purposes like tokens or storage). This native functionality is designed to be more efficient and secure than relying on smart contracts built on top of the blockchain, as it reduces complexity and potential vulnerabilities. ^{[3] [13]}
• Flexible Rules Engine: The protocol incorporates a rules engine based on an Access Control List (ACL) system that gives asset issuers granular control over their tokens. Permissions can be defined for specific accounts and assets, allowing for the enforcement of complex compliance requirements, transfer restrictions, and other governance rules directly at the protocol level. ^{[10] [12]}
• On-chain Foreign Exchange (FX): The network has native support for on-chain foreign exchange, facilitating seamless atomic swaps between different currencies and assets directly on the blockchain. This feature is intended to reduce the reliance on external intermediaries for cross-currency transactions. ^{[9] [12]}

Security

Keeta employs a multi-layered security strategy that combines established cryptographic standards, data integrity measures, and protections against common network attacks.

Cryptography and Data Integrity

The network's security is founded on proven cryptographic methods. It supports multiple digital signature algorithms, including ECDSA (with curves secp256k1 and secp256r1) and Ed25519. For hashing, it utilizes SHA3-256. The protocol is designed to be extensible, allowing for the future integration of post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) algorithms as they become standardized. ^[12]

Data integrity is maintained through several mechanisms. The ledger is append-only, meaning validated transactions become immutable records. Each block is cryptographically linked to the previous one in its account-chain, ensuring a verifiable and tamper-evident history. All direct communication with representatives for voting is secured using Transport Layer Security (TLS), which provides encryption, authentication, and message integrity. ^[12]

Attack Vector Mitigation

Keeta's architecture includes specific measures to defend against common decentralized network attacks:

• Sybil Attacks: To prevent an adversary from gaining undue influence by creating numerous fake identities, Keeta supports the use of X.509 certificates to authenticate representatives. This ties network validators to identities verified through a public key infrastructure (PKI), making it difficult and costly to create a large number of Sybil nodes.
• Spam and Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks: The network mitigates spam and DoS attacks through its representative-based model. Since clients communicate directly with representatives over HTTPS, standard DDoS prevention tools can be employed. Furthermore, representatives have the discretion to manage network traffic by adjusting transaction fees in response to abnormal activity or by choosing to decline votes for transactions identified as spam, providing a financial deterrent and a direct filtering mechanism.

These security features are designed to create a robust and resilient environment for high-value financial transactions. ^[12]

Tokenomics ($KTA)

The native asset of the Keeta network is the KTA token, which is integral to the functioning and governance of the ecosystem.

Token Details

• Ticker: KTA
• Maximum Supply: 1,000,000,000 KTA
• Total Supply: 1,000,000,000 KTA
• Initial Launch Network: Base
• Contract Address (Base): 0xc0634090F2Fe6c6d75e61Be2b949464aBB498973

The KTA token was first issued on the Base network before the Keeta mainnet was launched, making it available for trading on various centralized and decentralized exchanges. ^[7]

Allocation and Vesting

The total supply of 1 billion KTA tokens is allocated across several categories to support the network's growth and development.

• Community: 50%
• Team and Investors: 40%
• Foundation Treasury: 10%

Tokens allocated to the team and early investors are subject to linear vesting schedules that range from 24 to 48 months. The first token unlock for these stakeholders was scheduled for September 2025, with the full supply expected to be in circulation by 2030. This vesting structure is intended to align the long-term interests of the core team and backers with those of the broader community. ^[9]

Utility

The KTA token has two primary functions within the Keeta ecosystem:

1. Transaction Fees: KTA is used to pay for all transactions and operations on the network, such as asset transfers, token swaps, and the execution of protocol-level rules.
2. Governance: KTA serves as the governance token, granting holders the right to participate in decentralized decision-making processes that affect the future development and parameters of the network.

These utilities are designed to create demand for the token that is tied to the adoption and usage of the Keeta blockchain. ^[10]

Ecosystem and Partnerships

Keeta has established several strategic partnerships to build out its ecosystem and enhance its capabilities, particularly in the areas of compliance and digital identity.

• Footprint: Keeta partnered with Footprint, a New York-based KYC and identity verification company. Footprint provides a "one-click" KYC solution to onboard users onto the Keeta network. Through this partnership, Footprint issues KYC certificates that are recognized by the protocol, streamlining the compliance process for users and applications. ^[9]
• SOLO: The network is collaborating with SOLO, a financial infrastructure firm also backed by Eric Schmidt, to launch an on-chain credit bureau. SOLO is developing a product named PASS, which will function as a banking-grade financial identity layer on the Keeta blockchain. PASS will allow sensitive information, such as KYC data and income credentials, to be securely stored on-chain and used across both Web2 and Web3 applications. ^[9]
• Google's Spanner Team & Chainspect: For its public stress test, Keeta collaborated with the engineering team for Google's Spanner, a distributed database service. The test was independently monitored and verified by Chainspect, a third-party validation firm, which lent credibility to the performance results. ^[11]

Team and Investors

Keeta was founded by CEO Ty Schenk. The project is operated by Keeta Inc., which is headquartered in Miami, Florida. ^[10]

The project has raised a total of $20 million in funding. Its most prominent investor is Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, whose involvement has been a key factor in the project's public profile and strategic partnerships. ^[11]