Vladimir Novakovski, the Harvard prodigy and former Citadel engineer, has successfully raised $68 million for his decentralized trading platform, Lighter. The platform operates as a custom layer 2 solution on Ethereum, focusing on verifiable matching and liquidations to enhance trading efficiency and transparency.
Lighter is a decentralized perpetual trading protocol that recently secured $68 million in funding. The round was led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and Ribbit Capital, with additional participation from Haun Ventures and Robinhood, according to Fortune. This latest investment follows an earlier $21 million raise led by Haun Ventures and Craft Ventures, bringing Lighter’s total funding to nearly $90 million.
The platform runs a layer 2 exchange on Ethereum, currently enabling perpetual futures trading with plans to expand into spot trading soon. With early profitability and a strong technical team, Lighter aims to position itself as a high-performance alternative to existing perpetual decentralized exchanges (DEXs). The protocol prioritizes verifiable proofs to deliver faster, more transparent on-chain trading experiences.
Corporate interest in decentralized finance (DeFi) continues to grow as more firms explore decentralized vaults to manage spare cash. These solutions offer easy access and competitive yields, making platforms like Lighter increasingly attractive for institutional participants.
https://cryptobriefing.com/lighter-raises-68m-for-crypto-trading-protocol/