Marlin
4 known investors
Marlin is a protocol offering TEE-based coprocessors for decentralized compute, allowing blockchain computations to be delegated to offchain microservices with proofs and attestations verified onchain. Its products include Oyster (serverless coprocessors and confidential VMs) and Kalypso (a ZK proof marketplace), serving developers building dApps, oracles, decentralized exchanges and frontends.
Also known as Marlin Protocol Β· Oyster
Investors Β· 4
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Marlin is a verifiable computing protocol that uses trusted execution environments (TEEs) to let complex workloads β such as DeFi strategies, automation tasks or AI models β run on a decentralized cloud while attestations and proofs are verified onchain. The compute network is referred to as Oyster, named after the protocol upgrade that introduced TEE-based general purpose computing. Instances can be rented and serverless functions executed through either smart contract calls or web2 APIs, positioning the network as a coprocessor that scales blockchain applications by moving execution offchain without redundant replication.
Oyster is offered in two modes. Oyster CVM provides confidential virtual machines: dedicated Linux instances inside a TEE, rented for any period, with no execution time limit, horizontal and vertical scaling, full allocation of the chosen vCPU and memory, TCP networking and monitoring and uptime guarantees. Oyster Serverless outsources jobs to an always-online shared pool of nodes; functions run in a JS (and work-in-progress WASM) sandbox inside a TEE with a five-minute execution limit, pay-as-you-go pricing, shared vCPU and memory, HTTP/HTTPS endpoints and support for subscriptions that execute functions at periodic intervals, for example to fetch oracle price data or trigger an LLM agent. Neither mode allows SSH access or production debugging, and code updates require redeployment. Alongside Oyster, Marlin lists Kalypso, described as a permissionless ZK proof marketplace for any circuit, and Relay, a blockchain-agnostic relay network with built-in incentivization.
Marlin markets application areas including MEV (mev-bor, described as the Flashbots client for Polygon PoS), AI model training and monetization, low-latency DEXs with trustless matching engines, gaming servers, decentralized frontends, decentralized gateways and oracles. Decentralized frontend hosting combines enclave images built from GitHub code, onchain domains via 3DNS and deployment on Oyster paid for in stablecoins and managed in Marlin Hub. Ecosystem pages group listed dApps into categories such as Bitcoin L2, gateways, AI, DeFi, validators and blockchain.
Business model
Marlin operates as a permissionless protocol network: programmers can contribute to the codebase, developers deploy backends and functions on Oyster nodes, and infrastructure providers run TEE-enabled nodes. Usage is priced by resource consumption β CVM instances are billed for the entire time they are rented, while serverless users pay only for the duration of function execution. Frontend hosting on Oyster is paid for in stablecoins. The network has associated tokens, POND and MPond, with bridges between Ethereum and Arbitrum and between POND and MPond.
Payment is usage-based: renting confidential VM instances for the duration held, pay-as-you-go execution fees for serverless functions, and stablecoin payments for hosting deployments managed through Marlin Hub.
Traction
The website lists an ecosystem of dApps and projects across Bitcoin L2, gateway, AI, DeFi, validator and blockchain categories, including named entries such as Asula and Sigmoid, along with published case studies on onchain management of decentralized frontends.
βΈFull profile β market position, technology, go-to-market
Market position
Marlin presents itself as a decentralized cloud and coprocessing middleware, competing with other decentralized cloud providers and ZK coprocessing solutions, and describes its coprocessors as "the GPU for onchain execution."
Marlin positions TEE-based execution as tamper-resistant compared with decentralized cloud offerings that use vanilla servers where operators could manipulate execution, and as faster and cheaper than MPC, FHE or ZK-proof-based approaches because there is no redundant computation or heavy cryptography beyond TEE overhead. It also emphasizes data confidentiality, chain abstraction through relay and verification contracts deployable on any blockchain, offchain data access via APIs and HTTPS endpoints, automatic scaling with fault tolerance, and protection of computation logic and data from onchain observers and the host machine.
Technology
The protocol relies on hardware-based trusted execution environments, in which code and data loaded into an isolated area of the processor are protected from other processes and from the host machine owner, providing confidentiality and integrity. Oyster tooling includes reproducible builds using Nix so that code and dependencies deterministically produce the same binary hash; a key management service that uses attestations to provide persistent keys surviving enclave failure and enabling enclave upgradability and secure storage; attestation verification through a Solidity library with RISC Zero support and a web2 portal confirming that the correct enclave image runs in a genuine TEE; Docker support so codebases can be containerized rather than rewritten with TEE-specific APIs; networking that exposes web2 endpoints and can store and use TLS certificates; and remote attestation-based TLS via Scallop for encrypted channels between or with enclaves. CVM enclave images are built from Docker images and deployed on instances leased from Marlin Hub, while serverless functions must be made available on a DA layer, currently restricted to blockchain calldata. Applications can be written in familiar languages, including ported Python, C++ or Go apps, zkVMs, Rust crates and ML or crypto libraries, with support for private inputs via confidential computing on H100 GPUs. Storage in both modes is external with an MPC-based persistent key.
Go-to-market
Marlin distributes through developer self-service: documentation, GitHub client code and libraries, tutorials and guides for CVM and serverless deployment, the Marlin Hub deployment console, a Discord community, a governance and design forum, and a blog with case studies and engineering articles. Solution-specific landing pages target verticals such as MEV, AI, DEX, gaming, frontends, gateways and oracles, and an ecosystem directory highlights dApps and projects working with the protocol.
Web3 developers and teams building dApps, DeFi protocols and DEXs, perpetuals and spot trading venues, oracles, AI model builders, gaming server operators, DAOs seeking community-run frontends, Bitcoin L2 and gateway projects, and infrastructure providers running TEE-enabled nodes.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources β announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
In the news
βΈResearch sources Β· 8
primary sources listed
- Marlinmarlin.org Β· web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Marlin do?
- Marlin is a verifiable computing protocol using TEEs to run decentralized cloud workloads as coprocessors for blockchains.
- Who are Marlin's investors?
- Marlin's investors include Arrington Capital, Fenbushi Capital, Woodstock Fund, Arrington XRP Capital.