Tom Lee Says This Ethereum Project Could Be a Game-Changer

Tom Lee has called Lighter (LIT) a breakout success and a critical piece of Ethereum’s infrastructure. The remarks follow a new Bankless interview with the exchange’s founder.

Lee is no casual voice here. He chairs BitMine, which calls itself the world’s largest Ethereum treasury. The firm holds 5.79 million ether.

Why Does Tom Lee’s Lighter Call Matter?

Lee co-founded the research firm Fundstrat. He also chairs BitMine, listed on the NYSE as BMNR.

BitMine disclosed 5.79 million ether on Monday. Nearly 4.92 million of those coins are staked. So Lee holds a huge bet on Ethereum getting used.

Ether (ETH) now trades near $1,944. It is down about 49% in a year.

“Lighter is a massive breakout success and a critical infrastructure layer for Ethereum,” said Tom Lee, chairman of BitMine Immersion Technologies.

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Here is what makes the post notable. Lee’s July investor message listed Robinhood, Coinbase and Kraken’s Ink as Ethereum’s layer-2 winners. Lighter was not on it. Now he calls Lighter critical.

That is a new name on the list he uses to argue Ethereum’s Wall Street case.

What Is Lighter?

Lighter is an Ethereum layer-2 perp DEX. In plain terms, it lets people trade crypto with leverage, without a company holding their coins.

It runs on zero-knowledge proofs. These let anyone check that trades and liquidations were handled fairly.

The scale is real. Lighter handled $43 billion in trading volume over 30 days. It holds $822 million in open bets and $525 million in deposits.

Founder Vlad Novakovski finished Harvard at 18. He later traded at Citadel and ran engineering at Addepar. He told Bankless the system took 18 months to build.

Lighter began as a networking app called Lunch Club. It switched direction in 2022. It later raised a $68 million funding round from Founders Fund, Ribbit Capital and Robinhood Ventures.

But Is Lighter Growing?

Lighter (LIT) trades near $2.19. It is up 4.7% today and 23.7% this month. Its market value sits near $547 million.

The earnings trend is weaker. Quarterly revenue fell from $39.7 million to $19.7 million, then to $9.6 million.

LIT also sits far below its $7.86 high from December. It stays above its $0.78 low from March.

Lee calls Lighter infrastructure, not a trade. He has also said BitMine wants to invest in crypto unicorns. That gives his praise a second meaning.

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