Psy Protocol officially launches public testnet, combining internet-level scale and speed with bitcoin-level security

Hong Kong, September 29, 2025 — Psy Protocol (formerly QED Protocol) has officially launched its public testnet today, introducing a brand-new blockchain architecture designed to achieve internet-level throughput with Bitcoin-grade security. Leveraging client-side zero-knowledge proofs and a horizontally scalable state architecture, the protocol demonstrated powerful processing capabilities of millions of TPS per second during internal testing. Its unique architecture not only supports virtually unlimited transaction processing capacity, but also ensures that block processing time for all transactions grows only logarithmically with the number of users, maintaining high efficiency even at scale.

The project has received support from several top investment institutions and partners, including Blockchain Capital, Arrington Capital, UTXO, Anagram, Draper Dragon, CoinSummer, Amber Group, Paper Ventures, Protagonist, LBank Labs, Valhalla Capital, StarkWare, Edessa Capital, as well as strategic mining pool partners F2Pool and ViaBTC Capital.

“Psy’s architecture has overcome the core bottleneck hindering mainstream Web3 applications, solving the long-standing trade-off between scalability and security in decentralized applications,” said Aleks Larsen, General Partner at Blockchain Capital. “This is also the first time that the high-concurrency models recognized in the Web2 ecosystem—from e-commerce to artificial intelligence—can operate on a fully decentralized basis with Bitcoin-level security guarantees.”

How Does Psy Achieve Internet-Level High Throughput?

Psy’s performance breaks through the core bottleneck that has long plagued blockchains: the inability to support high-concurrency applications that shape modern internet use cases. Because existing blockchains cannot handle the massive transaction volumes required by such applications, fully on-chain DeFi, agent payments, and decentralized versions of Amazon, eBay, or social networks remain theoretical.

Traditional blockchains have long faced an unavoidable bottleneck: every full node must validate every transaction. While this design ensures strong security, it severely limits the network’s throughput. The Ethereum network can process only about 60 transactions per second, and even higher-performance PoS networks like Solana average only about 1,000 TPS. Psy’s state model (PARTH), however, completely breaks through this bottleneck.

Psy significantly reduces the network’s computational burden by introducing client-side computation. Its core mechanism is that users generate zero-knowledge proofs on their local devices, replacing the traditional node-by-node transaction validation. The verification speed of these proofs is several orders of magnitude faster than the original transactions. The network then uses recursive zero-knowledge proofs to aggregate them in parallel, ultimately forming a succinct block proof that can verify millions of transactions in just a few seconds.

The key is that the PARTH architecture enables block processing time for all transactions to grow only logarithmically with the number of users. In benchmark tests, when one million users each submitted ten transactions, Psy processed 10 million transactions in about 10 seconds—demonstrating a powerful throughput of over one million transactions per second.

Empowering Web3 to Enter the Next Stage

Psy’s technology stack gives Web3 business models strong competitiveness in demanding scenarios such as fully on-chain DeFi and agent payments. The testnet, with faster transaction speeds, scalable architecture, and built-in data privacy protection, demonstrates how Psy can achieve large-scale expansion without sacrificing the security and decentralization established by Bitcoin.

Its groundbreaking performance enables blockchain applications to compete head-to-head with centralized platforms, truly returning data ownership and control to users, rather than leaving it in the hands of tech giants.

The public testnet is officially live today, allowing developers and users to experience Psy’s outstanding performance firsthand. The mainnet is expected to launch later this year.

Why Did Psy Choose “Proof-of-Useful-Work”?

Unlike most high-throughput blockchains that rely on Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus, Psy chose to build on the principles of Proof-of-Work (PoW), a consensus mechanism first introduced by Bitcoin.

The PoS system often concentrates power in the hands of validators with large token holdings, enabling them to extract profits through means such as MEV (Miner Extractable Value). At the same time, its security relies entirely on its own issued tokens, creating a circular dependency and systemic risk.

Psy transforms mining into “Proof-of-Useful-Work,” that is, generating and aggregating zero-knowledge proofs that directly secure transactions, fundamentally eliminating the energy waste associated with traditional Proof-of-Work. This innovative mechanism is upgrading mining from meaningless hash power competition to collaborative value creation: Psy no longer advances the blockchain based on raw hash power, but instead drives network development by maximizing the “useful work” miners perform for users.

“The reason Web3 business and agent economies have yet to scale is that users are forced to choose between convenience and decentralization,” said Carter Feldman, founder and CEO of Psy Protocol. “Psy breaks this false dichotomy, providing developers with the tools to build fast, secure, and scalable platforms that deliver a seamless user experience—even when running entirely on-chain.”

About Psy Protocol

Psy Protocol is a smart contract platform based on Proof-of-Useful-Work, deeply integrating the neutrality and security of Proof-of-Work with the high scalability and high performance of next-generation architectures. By delegating the generation of transaction proofs to users and aggregating zero-knowledge proofs on-chain, Psy achieves internet-level throughput, low fees, and open participation without sacrificing the exceptional security of Proof-of-Work. The Psy platform empowers developers to build large-scale Web3 applications and is committed to becoming the core infrastructure supporting the next generation of decentralized internet ecosystems.