Is Lighter Ethereum's L2 Perp DEX? | Founder Vlad Novakovski | Bankless

In this Bankless podcast episode, hosts Ryan and David interview Vlad Novakovski, the founder and CEO of Lighter, a newly launched ZK L2 Perp DEX on Ethereum. They discuss the benefits of building on Ethereum as a Layer 2, focusing on security, verifiability, and performance. Vlad addresses a recent market volatility event and grades the performance of major perps exchanges, including Lighter, Binance, and Hyperliquid, during that period. The conversation also covers Lighter's roadmap, including upcoming features like spot trading, a ZKVM sidecar, universal cross margin, and their plans for a token launch and airdrop, aiming to evolve Lighter into a comprehensive financial super app.

Outlines

Part 1: Introduction and Vision

Part 2: Performance Analysis and Grading

Part 3: Background, Motivation, and Scalability

Part 4: Roadmap and Future Plans

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Is Lighter Ethereum's L2 Perp DEX? | Founder Vlad Novakovski

Bankless

Part 1: Introduction and Vision

Introduction to Lighter and the Layer-2 Vision

Verifiability and Fair Order Matching on Lighter

Part 2: Performance Analysis and Grading

Lighter's Mainnet Launch and the October 11th Market Volatility

Grading the Performance of Perp DEXs During Market Volatility

ADL Systems and Prioritizing Traders vs. LPs

Final Grades and Lessons from the Liquidation Event

Part 3: Background, Motivation, and Scalability

Vlad's Background and the Motivation Behind Lighter

Lighter's Scalability and Performance Compared to Other Layer-2s

L1 Premium, Sovereignty, and the Difficulty of Building an L2

Part 4: Roadmap and Future Plans

Lighter's Roadmap, Token Plans, and L2Beat Status

Is Lighter Ethereum's L2 Perp DEX? | Founder Vlad Novakovski

Bankless

Part 1: Introduction and Vision

00:02Introduction to Lighter and the Layer-2 Vision

Introduction to Lighter and the Layer-2 Vision

07:51Verifiability and Fair Order Matching on Lighter

Verifiability and Fair Order Matching on Lighter

Part 2: Performance Analysis and Grading

13:36Lighter's Mainnet Launch and the October 11th Market Volatility

Lighter's Mainnet Launch and the October 11th Market Volatility

17:23Grading the Performance of Perp DEXs During Market Volatility

Grading the Performance of Perp DEXs During Market Volatility

28:30ADL Systems and Prioritizing Traders vs. LPs

ADL Systems and Prioritizing Traders vs. LPs

35:32Final Grades and Lessons from the Liquidation Event

Final Grades and Lessons from the Liquidation Event

Part 3: Background, Motivation, and Scalability

42:21Vlad's Background and the Motivation Behind Lighter

Vlad's Background and the Motivation Behind Lighter

50:02Lighter's Scalability and Performance Compared to Other Layer-2s

Lighter's Scalability and Performance Compared to Other Layer-2s

57:33L1 Premium, Sovereignty, and the Difficulty of Building an L2

L1 Premium, Sovereignty, and the Difficulty of Building an L2

Part 4: Roadmap and Future Plans

1:01:47Lighter's Roadmap, Token Plans, and L2Beat Status

Lighter's Roadmap, Token Plans, and L2Beat Status