“Trillions of dollars of assets are being tokenized, and every person will eventually have a wallet,” said Roham Gharegozlou, CEO of Dapper Labs and Co-Founder of Flow. “Most networks weren’t built for consumers, but Flow was.”
That vision is at the center of Flow’s newest upgrade, Forte. Launched in testnet form with a mainnet release scheduled for October 22, Forte represents the network’s effort to expand from its roots in entertainment and gaming into consumer finance.
A Consumer-First Philosophy
Flow has long emphasized ease of use and accessibility. Partnerships with the NBA, NFL, Disney, and Ticketmaster brought blockchain technology to millions of users who might never have touched crypto otherwise. Those successes helped Flow grow into one of the fastest-rising networks in the space, with a 600% increase in total value locked over the past year and more than $100 million locked as of August.
Forte builds on that foundation. The upgrade introduces a shared base layer for decentralized finance protocols, making them programmable, composable, and easier for developers to use. It also unlocks native automation so that applications no longer need to depend on off-chain bots or custodians.
For Gharegozlou, it is about extending Flow’s original mission into a new domain. “Forte extends our original purpose, to support applications built for millions of people, into finance. With our Forte upgrade, developers can now create DeFi apps that are both reliable and accessible, which is what’s required if tokenization is going to live up to its potential.”
Building a Reliable Foundation
While Flow’s partnerships have given it credibility with mainstream brands, its leadership points to the network’s architecture as the key to delivering on Forte’s promises. Flow is structured around five different node types, each with specialized responsibilities. This setup allows the network to process transactions at global scale while avoiding the bottlenecks that affect many blockchains.
The design also prevents maximum extractable value, or MEV, which occurs when validators reorder transactions for profit. By separating block building from block proposing, Flow provides more predictable and fair execution.
Cadence, Flow’s smart contract language, adds another layer of differentiation. As a resource-oriented programming model, it was created specifically for secure and powerful on-chain logic. For developers, this combination of scalability and safety forms a foundation that can support complex financial applications while still maintaining user trust.
Trust as the Central Theme
Dieter Shirley, Flow’s Chief Architect, underscored that trust and reliability were guiding principles for Forte. “Forte gives developers a consistent foundation to build applications without relying on fragmented workarounds. It’s about building the blocks for the next phase of crypto with tools that are open, reliable, and designed to scale far beyond early adopters. By embedding automation and security at the network level, Forte makes it possible to create apps that everyday people can actually trust and use.”
Shirley’s emphasis reflects the gap that has often separated crypto from mainstream finance. Decentralized applications have grown in number but frequently struggle to deliver experiences that feel safe and intuitive to everyday consumers. By embedding more features into the network itself, Flow hopes Forte can resolve many of those barriers.
A Step Toward the Future
For both Gharegozlou and Shirley, Forte is not just about technical improvements but about signaling a direction. Flow’s success with consumer brands showed that a blockchain built with accessibility in mind could achieve global scale. Forte is meant to prove that the same philosophy applies to finance.
By focusing on infrastructure that combines security, automation, and usability, Flow’s leaders believe Forte can help bridge the divide between the promise of tokenization and the expectations of consumers. As Gharegozlou put it, “With our Forte upgrade, developers can now create DeFi apps that are both reliable and accessible.”
