Bankless Co-Founder Reveals New Crypto Portfolio After Ethereum Sale

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 one in every 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 increased.

“I left the remainder 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 rapidly shifted right into a broader dialogue about Hoffman’s funding thesis round LIT and Lighter, notably after Multicoin Capital’s Kyle Samani requested why a consumer 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 part platform, and Lighter is very optimized for perps particularly,” Hoffman wrote. “Lighter has extra property, together with extra pre-IPO markets. Lighter doesn’t require KYC enroll, and Robinhood Perps are for less than a closed group of customers within the EU.”

He acknowledged one essential 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 change’s rule enforcement with out permission.

“zkLighter is totally auditable by finish customers, so anybody can permissionlessly confirm the change is following its personal guidelines,” he wrote. “Order matching, funding, danger 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 shouldn’t be merely technical branding. He argued that it goes on to dealer and market-maker belief, as a result of members can confirm that “there isn’t any privileged celebration buying and selling towards customers,” invoking the FTX and Alameda collapse because the related failure mode.

Hoffman additionally emphasised latency and execution value. He claimed Lighter has “the most effective latency of any perp change” and “the most effective charge construction,” whereas pointing to third-party comparisons towards Hyperliquid. On Robinhood, nevertheless, he was extra cautious, saying he couldn’t choose Robinhood perps immediately as a result of he can not entry them and wouldn’t be capable to audit them in the identical method.

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“Perhaps Robinhood, when it will definitely rolls out perps, additionally has a 0-fee construction too,” he wrote. “However meaning a tie between RH and Lighter, not a RH win.”

The talk additionally uncovered pushback from elements of the Ethereum group. One consumer accused Hoffman of going “from eth maxi to the opposite excessive,” whereas one other prompt he had develop into extra of a short-term dealer. Hoffman rejected each characterizations.

“The know-how underneath all of those property is fairly fascinating too,” he replied to 1 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