Feb 17
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Vlad Novakovski is the Founder and CEO of Lighter, a high-performance ZK-based perps and spot exchange, built on Ethereum. A year ago, Lighter hadn't even launched. Today it's processing billions in daily volume, handling 500 million orders at a total cost of around $50K. Vlad's background spans STEM Olympiads, Harvard at 18, Citadel trading, and being an early advisor to Robinhood. Now he's building the infrastructure layer for when TradFi and DeFi merge. Vlad breaks down how Lighter achieves centralized exchange performance on Ethereum, what Robinhood's $68M investment means for tokenized equities, and the post-TGE reality for LIT: token down, volumes pulled back, but fundamentals unchanged. In this episode, we cover: * Scaling Ethereum's top perps DEX * Robinhood's $68M bet and tokenized equities * LIT token utility and value capture * Roadmap: options, prediction markets, fixed income ------ 💎 THIS EPISODE'S PARTNERS 🔒 kpk | Best risk-adjusted yield through automated vaults → https://kpk.io/curation 🏙 MainStreet | Bringing proven TradFi yield strategies to DeFi markets → https://mainstreet.finance/ 🛡️ Accountable | Real-time financial verification → https://accountable.capital/ 🌅 Neutrl | The next generation of crypto-native yield → https://www.neutrl.fi/ 🕛 Noon | The highest and safest stablecoin yield, built for the long term → https://noon.capital/ 🏦 Mantle | MNT is now live on Solana → https://superportal.mantle.xyz/ ⚔️ Katana | Deep liquidity & real yield → https://katana.network/ ⚙️ Gearbox | Onchain lending reimagined → https://gearbox.fi/ 🐡 Puffer Institutional | ETH staking solutions for scale → https://institutional.puffer.fi/ ------ ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Intro 2:19 - Vlad’s background 6:47 - What is Lighter? Five goals, one platform 10:36 - How ZK proofs enable high-performance trading on Ethereum 14:41 - Processing 500 million orders a day 16:33 - Why Lighter was at Bitmine's annual shareholder meeting 18:32 - Robinhood's $68M investment and the tokenized equities opportunity 22:16 - The competitive landscape: Lighter vs. Hyperliquid and CEXs 26:33 - How the LLP works and how it differs from other DEX LPs 29:51 - The LIT token launch: What went well 31:45 - Post-TGE reality and the marathon ahead 33:48 - LIT token utility: Staking, fees, and LLP access 37:31 - Revenue and buybacks, what drives LIT value 39:43 - The new Lighter mobile app 41:03 - DeFi is not antithetical to regulators 43:00 - What’s next? Tokenized stocks, options, prediction markets 45:12 - Closing ------ 🔗 GUEST LINKS ► Lighter website: https://lighter.xyz/ ► Lighter on X: https://x.com/lighter_xyz ► Vlad Novakovski on X: https://x.com/vnovakovski ------ 🎙️ MORE FROM THE EDGE PODCAST AND EDGE NEWSLETTER ► Newsletter: https://the-edge.xyz ► Apple: https://tinyurl.com/edgepod ► Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/edgepodspotify ► Linktree: https://linktr.ee/edge_pod ► Follow DeFi Dad: https://x.com/DeFi_Dad ► Follow Nomatic: https://x.com/Nomaticcap ► Learn DeFi: http://defidad.com/ ------ DISCLAIMER: Nothing said on The Edge Podcast is a recommendation to buy or sell tokens or securities. This content is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing shared here is financial advice. Any views expressed by hosts or guests on the show are solely their opinions. Always do your own research. DeFi Dad, Nomatic, and guests may have positions in the assets or other matters discussed in this podcast.