“Pivot from crypto to AI” became a refrain in Silicon Valley after ChatGPT launched in 2022. Opportunistic founders looked to jump from one flagging hype cycle to the newer, shinier thing in tech. Vladimir Novakovski, though, pivoted from AI to crypto—and he’s attracted a who’s who of investors to back his startup Lighter, one of the fastest growing projects in digital assets.

Lighter is both a decentralized exchange designed to not be controlled by a single entity as well as a blockchain. It allows users to trade perpetual futures, a type of derivative that lets traders speculate on future prices for cryptocurrencies. It will also soon roll out spot trading for tokens like Bitcoin , Novakovski said.

On Tuesday, Lighter announced that it has raised $68 million in a new funding round. A

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