cryptocurrency
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David Marcus' Lightspark is a big bet on bitcoin

Not long after he left Meta, where he headed the Novi and Diem projects, the fintech pioneer is building a startup on top of the bitcoin blockchain.

David Marcus

David Marcus is heading a new startup, Lightspark.

Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

David Marcus, until recently a top-ranking Meta executive, is back with a new crypto startup that will remind many of his recent work — but has some crucial differences.

The Los Angeles startup, Lightspark, has raised series A financing led by a16z crypto and Paradigm, with participation from firms such as Matrix, Thrive Capital, Coatue, Felix Capital, Zeev Ventures and Ribbit Capital. Lightspark declined to disclose the amount, and didn't offer an explanation as to why.

The company is focused on "extending the capabilities" of bitcoin and is working on building technical infrastructure for the Lightning Network, it said. The Lightning Network is a project designed to create faster and cheaper transactions on top of the bitcoin network.

While the company is not saying much about what it is doing, its focus on bitcoin and Lightning is notable. At Meta, Marcus was leading a team building a new stablecoin first called Libra, then Diem, along with a crypto wallet, Novi. While the goal was to build a decentralized token, it suffered from the involvement of Meta, which drew immediate scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers. Marcus testified on Capitol Hill, but his hearing performance didn't pacify politicians, and the project struggled. Marcus resigned from Meta in November, and the company eventually sold off the technology to a partner bank, Silvergate.

Now with Lightspark, Marcus is developing a new company that is working on the most decentralized of blockchains, bitcoin.

Marcus is going back to his roots as a founder, said Dana Stalder, general partner at Matrix Partners, in a statement. "When I met David in 2010, he was in his early 30s and had never really had a job. He’d always been a founder. It is who he is — a startup founder through and through. While he had a highly successful tour through PayPal and Facebook, he is back to playing to his strengths."

Block, which is developing hardware and software focused on bitcoin, is another key player in the area where Marcus plans to compete. The payments company has started a division called TBD devoted to blockchain development tools.

Tomio Geron

Tomio Geron ( @tomiogeron) is a San Francisco-based reporter covering fintech. He was previously a reporter and editor at The Wall Street Journal, covering venture capital and startups. He was also as a staff writer at Forbes covering social media and venture capital, and edited the Midas List of top tech investors. He can be reached at tgeron@protocol.com or tgeron@protonmail.com.

cryptocurrencydavid marcuslightsparkbitcoinlighting network
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