DeFi Founder Builds Lighter, Raises $68M to Expand Crypto Trading

• Lighter raises $68 million, reaching a $1.5 billion valuation.
• Founders Fund and Ribbit Capital successfully led the latest funding round.
• The platform supports perpetuals, with spot trading launching soon.
• Lighter enhances blockchain transparency in decentralized finance.

Ethereum-based Layer 2 platform Lighter has raised $68 million in its latest funding round, drawing backing from top venture firms Founders Fund and Ribbit Capital. Haun Ventures and Robinhood also joined the round, valuing the company at $1.5 billion.

Founded in 2022 by Vladimir Novakovski, Lighter operates as both a decentralized exchange and a blockchain platform. It enables users to trade perpetual contracts, a form of crypto derivative that allows continuous trading without an expiry date. The platform will soon expand into spot trading, broadening its market offerings and increasing utility for active traders.

The raised capital will support platform expansion and infrastructure improvements. The company aims to create a transparent financial layer that verifies all transactions on-chain, strengthening user trust in decentralized markets.

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From Artificial Intelligence to Crypto Innovation

In contrast to other founders in Silicon Valley who changed focus from crypto to AI after 2022, Novakovski made the opposite transition after Lighter, moving from AI to crypto again. Lighter was preceded by his other company, called Lunchclub, an AI networking company that gained acceptance during the pandemic. But since his company stalled in terms of growth, Novakovski diversified his focus to blockchain development and founded Lighter.

The company has previously received funding of $21 million from Haun Ventures and Craft Ventures, meaning that the company has received almost $90 million in total funding. Lighter was rolled out in January after two years of development and testing.

Lighter does not operate on Layer 1 like its competitor Hyperliquid, but on Layer 2 from Ethereum, which makes transactions faster and cheaper compared to those executed by Hyperliquid. This design choice enables the platform to leverage the security features of Ethereum and its own scalable functionalities to provide traders with a seamless trading experience that is still decentralized.

Building a Competitive Edge in the Crypto Market

Lighter enters a competitive decentralized trading environment with perpetual contracts that are already quite popular. The initial success already puts Lighter among the most popular Ethereum Layer 2 networks in terms of TVL, as demonstrated by data from L2BEAT.

Novakovski’s background in trading and engineering lends credibility to the technical aspects of his project. His work experience spans various companies, such as Citadel Investment Group and various technology companies, which gives him insight into his transparent financial construct.

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