Lighter believes the next frontier is a true convergence where decentralized exchanges can match or exceed the performance of centralized venues, forcing both to vie for the same pool of traders. The legacy dominance of centralized rails still limits DeFi's impact, and recent crises have shown that traders still gravitate toward familiar centralized platforms.
Jeff acknowledges the strengths of centralized exchanges (metric optimization, AB testing) but stresses Hyperliquid's distinct mission as an open, permissionless platform that serves a different set of users.
Brian articulates the fundamental tension between starting and scaling companies today - while technology makes founding easier than ever, building durable institutions has never been harder.