Atlas, a Layer 2 blockchain developed by Ellipsis Labs, has launched its private testnet. The chain features a custom implementation of the Solana virtual machine (SVM) and settles to Ethereum mainnet “to access Ethereum’s assets in a trust-minimized fashion, and to benefit from Ethereum’s security and censorship-resistance”. Atlas is built by Ellipsis Labs, the core development team behind Phoenix Trade, a decentralized limit order book exchange on Solana with nearly $50 billion in total volume since its launch in March 2023, according to DeFiLlama. Ellipsis recently raised $20 million in a funding round led by Paradigm in April, with participation from Electric Capital and angels such as Cobie, Ansem, and Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko. Atlas brands itself as the blockchain for verifiable finance, which it refers to as “a financial world where transparency, security, and performance coexist without tradeoffs. Purpose-built for financial applications, Atlas combines the performance of traditional finance with the transparency of DeFi”. The testnet announcement teased future blog posts discussing the chain’s SVM design, its modular software architecture, and bridge and data availability designs. Atlas’ public testnet is scheduled to launch before the end of 2024, and its mainnet is expected in Q2 2025.