Lighter has secured a $68 million investment from Founders Fund and Robinhood, with a valuation reaching $1.5 billion.

As Silicon Valley entrepreneurs shift from encryption to AI, some choose to go against the tide. Former Citadel trader Vladimir Novakovski has transitioned from AI to encryption, founding the decentralized perpetual futures trading exchange Lighter, just in time to catch the current wave of Perp DEX enthusiasm. Recently, it secured $68 million in funding led by Founders Fund, with a valuation reaching $1.5 billion.

From AI to Encryption: Lighter Competes with Hyperliquid on L2

Fortune reported that after ChatGPT sparked the AI wave, most entrepreneurs chose to stay away from the encryption market and turned to artificial intelligence. But Vladimir Novakovski went against the trend.

He founded Lighter in 2022, positioning it as a decentralized Perptual Futures trading platform that operates on an Ethereum L2 architecture, which is the biggest difference from Hyperliquid L1. This allows it to achieve instant settlement and transparent transaction records while reducing trading fees.

According to reports, the Perp DEX is also planning to launch spot trading ( services.

)Lighter encounters a platform interruption crisis, the star Perp DEX faces challenges(

Impressive investment lineup: Founders Fund leads the investment, with Robinhood participating.

Lighter recently completed its latest round of financing, raising a total of 68 million USD, led by Silicon Valley investment mogul Peter Thiel's Founders Fund and Ribbit Capital, with participation from Haun Ventures and Robinhood.

According to informed sources, this round of financing has brought the company's valuation to $1.5 billion, with the transaction format including equity and unissued token warrants )token warrants(. If we add the previous round of financing of $21 million led by Haun Ventures and Craft Ventures in 2024, Lighter has raised nearly $90 million in total.

DeFiLlama data shows that Lighter's current TVL has reached 1.17 billion USD, with a 24-hour trading volume of up to 11.2 billion USD and an open interest of 1.62 billion USD.

Entered Harvard at 16, Citadel at 18: The Legendary Journey of the Founder

Born in Russia and later immigrating to the United States, Vladimir Novakovski can be said to have galloped across the world during his studies. He entered Harvard at the age of 16 and began working for the renowned hedge fund Citadel at 18, accumulating nearly 15 years of experience in engineering and trading, becoming a typical technical trader.

Novakovski then co-founded Lunchclub with former colleague Scott Wu, an AI-driven community matchmaking platform, and subsequently, eighty percent of the team became the core developers of Lighter.

The ambition of the DeFi new star, the competition in Perptual Futures DEX intensifies

Perp DEX has become one of the most vibrant areas in the DeFi ecosystem this year, with trading volumes hitting new highs and innovative strategies and products continuously emerging from the platform.

Today, Lighter is entering the field with Layer 2 technology, aiming for a fair and transparent financial foundation, and has gained support from several giants in Silicon Valley, which is expected to add a more intense competitive landscape to this sector.

)Technical Innovations and Market Competition of Perp DEX: A Brief Discussion on Opportunities and Challenges of On-Chain Perptual Futures exchange(

This article Lighter received a $68 million investment from Founders Fund and Robinhood, with a valuation projected at $1.5 billion, first appearing in Chain News ABMedia.