# Architecture The Nexus Exchange will run a high-performance order book and matching engine, with execution settled on-chain and verifiable by anyone. ### Nexus Exchange Components * **Execution Layer:** Processes all transactions and state transitions across two synchronized execution environments * **NexusCore**: High-performance execution environment that hosts *enshrined co-processors* with deterministic, 5ms latency for specialized financial operations. * **NexusEVM:** An Ethereum-compatible virtual machine providing general-purpose programmability, composability, and full EVM tooling support for decentralized applications. * Consensus Layer: * **NexusBFT:** A custom Byzantine Fault Tolerant consensus protocol that finalizes dual-execution blocks, coordinates validators, and manages the on-chain registry of co-processors. * Verification Layer: * **Nexus zkVM:** A verifiable compute engine that generates zero-knowledge proofs attesting to the correctness of all Layer 1 execution * **Nexus Network:** Distributed proving network where nodes contribute computational power to produce and aggregate zkVM proofs. This unified system will enable users to build and access institutional-grade financial infrastructure onchain, with 5ms latency, shared native liquidity, and cryptographic proof of correctness, bringing the speed, depth, and reliability of traditional markets into a verifiable and composable blockchain environment. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.nexus.xyz/exchange/architecture.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.