Libra Creator David Marcus Begins New Lightning Network Venture, Lightspark

Details are vague, but Lightspark has raised an undisclosed funding round co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Paradigm.

By Brandy Betz

May 12, 2022 at 9:15 p.m. UTC

Updated May 12, 2022 at 9:22 p.m. UTC

David Marcus (Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Brandy Betz

Brandy covers crypto-related venture capital deals for CoinDesk.

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David Marcus, the former crypto chief at Meta (formerly Facebook), took to Twitter to unveil Lightspark, a new company aimed at building on the Bitcoin-based Lightning Network.

“I wanted to share that we are starting a new company called Lightspark to explore, build and extend the capabilities and utility of Bitcoin,” said Marcus in a tweet. “As a first step, we’re actively assembling a team to dive deeper into the Lightning Network.”
The new project has raised an undisclosed funding round co-led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Paradigm with participation from Thrive Capital, Coatue, Felix Capital, Ribbit Capital, Matrix Partners and Zeev Ventures.
Marcus previously founded Zong, a telecom billing network that was later acquired by PayPal (PYPL). He headed mobile payments at PayPal then became president. In 2014, Marcus moved to Meta (FB) to head Facebook Messenger, then payment products, where he created the much delayed (and ultimately closed) libra stablecoin project.
“David’s latest project, Lightspark, aims at nothing less than reinventing the largest and most antiquated parts of financial services by building on the Lightning Network,” wrote Matrix Partners’ Dana Stalder – an early investor in Marcus’ Zong – in a blog post. “The team will share more information over time, but suffice to say, there is no one I trust more than David to start and lead such an ambitious company.”
“Downturns are good moments to focus on building and creating value with mission-aligned people,” said Marcus. “We’re excited to dive into Lightning, learn more and work alongside the community. We’ll share more about our work as we make progress.”

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