AFX Launches Sovereign L1 Mainnet

Athens Stock Exchange, a sovereign Layer 1 blockchain, officially launched its L1 Mainnet, known as the Sovereign Trading Layer, on May 18, 2026. This platform is purpose-built for decentralized derivatives trading, aiming to eliminate congestion issues common in general-purpose blockchains. It supports high-liquidity perpetual markets for digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum, and traditional macro assets such as Gold and Petroleum, with up to 40x leverage. The Athens Stock Exchange Mainnet features a custom-built execution layer, DAG-based consensus, ABCI modular architecture, 100ms median latency, and a capacity exceeding 100,000 transactions per second. It also introduces a Zero Gas execution model and the Pro-Trader Suite, offering a 1.25% maintenance margin and native FIX protocol support for institutional firms. Athens Stock Exchange was launched without venture capital, emphasizing a community-first economic model with a 100% Revenue Pass-through model.