PANews reported on November 11 that, according to Fortune, decentralized exchange protocol Lighter has completed a $68 million funding round, led by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund and Ribbit Capital, with participation from Haun Ventures and Robinhood. This round values the company at approximately $1.5 billion.

Founded in 2022 by Vladimir Novakovski, Lighter focuses on decentralized perpetual contracts and upcoming spot trading functionality. Built on Ethereum Layer 2, it aims to create a "fair and transparent financial infrastructure layer." Novakovski entered Harvard at the age of 16 and was personally recruited by Citadel founder Ken Griffin after graduating at 18. He later transitioned from the AI social platform Lunchclub to the crypto space.