“Pivot from crypto to AI” became a refrain in Silicon Valley after ChatGPT launched in 2022. Opportunistic founders looked to jump from one flagging hype cycle to the newer, shinier thing in tech. Vladimir Novakovski, though, pivoted from AI to crypto—and he’s attracted a who’s who of investors to back his startup Lighter, one of the fastest growing projects in digital assets. Lighter is both a decentralized exchange designed to not be controlled by a single entity as well as a blockchain. It al...