Perps rising: Lighter CEO Vlad Novakovski believes perpetual futures will power crypto’s future growth
Bitcoin exploded past $125,000 in 2025 and a big source of the demand came from one of the most technical corners of the crypto industry: decentralized exchanges (DEXes), or venues run autonomously on code where traders can buy and sell digital assets, and where one of the most popular products are perpetual futures or “perps.” Vlad Novakovski, the founder of the popular DEX Lighter, explained why perps and the exchanges they trade on have grown in popularity in the latest episode of Fortune’s Crypto Playbook podcast, available on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube.
While retail traders mostly purchase spot crypto, or the current price of digital prices, the go-to investment product on DEXes is often perpetual futures, which track…
