Bankless co-founder David Hoffman has disclosed how he redeployed capital after promoting ETH, revealing a brand new portfolio tilted towards VVV, NEAR, ZEC, HYPE and LIT. The transfer marks a notable shift for considered one of Ethereum’s most recognizable public advocates and has triggered debate over whether or not Hoffman is rotating into a brand new long-term thesis or chasing a unique section of the market.
In a post on X, Hoffman stated he “instantly took ~50% of the capital to VVV, NEAR, ZEC, HYPE” after promoting ETH. The opposite half, he stated, was held again for dollar-cost averaging into an asset that had not already moved sharply greater.
“I left the remaining as capital to DCA into one thing not already up multiples,” Hoffman wrote, including that NEAR was an exception as a result of it was “~1.40 on the time.” He then stated he had accomplished that second leg of the rotation: “I’ve completed shopping for LIT with that remaining 50%.”
Why Hoffman Selected LIT As Subsequent Main Crypto Guess
The disclosure shortly shifted right into a broader dialogue about Hoffman’s funding thesis round LIT and Lighter, significantly after Multicoin Capital’s Kyle Samani requested why a person would select Lighter over Robinhood. Hoffman framed the reply round product specialization, market construction and auditability slightly than merely token hypothesis.
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“The straightforward reply is that Robinhood is an every thing platform, and Lighter is very optimized for perps particularly,” Hoffman wrote. “Lighter has extra belongings, together with extra pre-IPO markets. Lighter doesn’t require KYC enroll, and Robinhood Perps are for under a closed group of customers within the EU.”
He acknowledged one vital constraint: “In contrast, Lighter is VPN blocked within the US.” However Hoffman argued that the deeper distinction is transparency. He pointed to zkLighter, Lighter’s zero-knowledge system, which he stated permits finish customers to confirm the alternate’s rule enforcement with out permission.
“zkLighter is totally auditable by finish customers, so anybody can permissionlessly confirm the alternate is following its personal guidelines,” he wrote. “Order matching, funding, threat checks, liquidations and many others are outlined in zk circuits, so Ethereum verifies that they adopted Lighter’s guidelines earlier than accepting state updates. Bullish crypto ethos!”
For Hoffman, the auditability declare is just not merely technical branding. He argued that it goes on to dealer and market-maker belief, as a result of individuals can confirm that “there isn’t any privileged social gathering buying and selling towards customers,” invoking the FTX and Alameda collapse because the related failure mode.
Hoffman additionally emphasised latency and execution price. He claimed Lighter has “the very best latency of any perp alternate” and “the very best price construction,” whereas pointing to third-party comparisons towards Hyperliquid. On Robinhood, nonetheless, he was extra cautious, saying he couldn’t decide Robinhood perps immediately as a result of he can not entry them and wouldn’t be capable to audit them in the identical manner.
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“Possibly Robinhood, when it will definitely rolls out perps, additionally has a 0-fee construction too,” he wrote. “However which means a tie between RH and Lighter, not a RH win.”
The controversy additionally uncovered pushback from components of the Ethereum group. One person accused Hoffman of going “from eth maxi to the opposite excessive,” whereas one other steered he had grow to be extra of a short-term dealer. Hoffman rejected each characterizations.
“The know-how beneath all of those belongings is fairly attention-grabbing too,” he replied to at least one critic. To a different who joked about him having an funding thesis and sticking to it, Hoffman responded: “My final funding thesis I had for eight years. God forbid I get a brand new one!”
Requested immediately about LIT versus HYPE, Hoffman stated he views the place as each “beta and alpha” to HYPE. His reasoning centered on relative buybacks, product high quality and regulatory positioning, citing “LIT buybacks” as shifting at “2x the relative velocity of HYPE Buybacks,” alongside what he described as a technically superior product, higher charges, stronger latency and US domicile.
At press time LIT traded at $1.50.
Featured picture created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
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