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Shehzan Maredia is the co-founder, CEO & CTO of Lava, a platform revolutionizing self-custodial finance with Bitcoin at the heart of it all. Recently, they raised $10m in funding from top-tier funds, including Founders Fund and Khosla Ventures, names you typically don’t see on Bitcoin cap tables. Here’s his take on fundraising and attracting a stellar team.

Jake: For those unfamiliar, could you give a quick overview of what Lava is and the problem it’s solving?
Shehzan: Lava offers the most secure way to borrow against your bitcoin. We provide non-custodial, bitcoin-secured loans using Discreet Log Contracts (DLCs), the only framework for secure smart contracts on Bitcoin. Security is our priority, but we’re also the fastest and lowest-cost loan product available today, which we’re proud of.

Jake: Why is Lava important for Bitcoin?
Shehzan: Lava unlocks Bitcoin’s potential as self-sovereign savings by enabling users to borrow without risking their assets. Making it easier to save in Bitcoin is critical for its success. Until Lava, Ethereum had an edge because it allowed non-custodial borrowing, which Bitcoin couldn’t—now we’ve changed that. Lava expands Bitcoin’s total addressable market and accelerates its adoption by helping people save more in Bitcoin and short fiat.

Jake: You recently closed a $10M Series A round with participation from Founders Fund and Khosla Ventures. What was the fundraising process like, and what convinced such top-tier investors to back Lava?
Shehzan: I focused on raising from generalist VCs. In fact, Lava is Khosla’s first bitcoin or crypto related deal. I especially did not want to raise from a crypto VC, and there really isn’t any large bitcoin VC, which I think is fine. The process was pretty straight forward, I knew who I wanted to work with, I got connected to them, and I just simply explained why what Lava is doing is differentiated.

Jake: Raising $10M is a big achievement, especially in a competitive market. Were there any unexpected challenges or lessons that other founders might find useful?
Shehzan: Plenty of lessons learned. Be genuine with yourself and others. Research investors thoroughly before pitching. Move fast—you can probably go faster than you think. Stay resilient: take the losses, learn, and keep going. I’m happy to chat with founders building something valuable—they can reach out directly.

Jake: You’ve recently hired impressive talent like Jonathan Harvey-Buschel, Ben Carmen, and Thibaut Le Guilly in a highly competitive talent market. How do you attract high-caliber people?
Shehzan: Some of our hires applied directly; others I reached out to myself. Top talent wants to work on meaningful products. That’s why you don’t see great people joining scammy projects in this industry. When you’re building something genuinely useful—which most in this space aren’t— attracting talent becomes much easier.

Jake: What’s your philosophy on building a culture that keeps top talent motivated and aligned with Lava’s goals?
Shehzan: I look for three qualities in our team: ownership, care, and ambition. On ownership, everyone at Lava has full visibility into decisions and is empowered to contribute. On care, I hire people who prioritize our customers, strive to excel in their craft, and support each other. On ambition, I encourage thinking bigger and planning for the long term.

Jake: What’s the one big thing you’re most excited to tackle next at Lava, and how do you see it shaping the future of your space?
Shehzan: We’re already the most secure and fastest-growing bitcoin-backed loan product—and the largest, too. We’ll keep expanding this market while growing our other offerings, like buying bitcoin, card payments, and dollar payments. Long-term, our vision is a financial future where people save in bitcoin and spend in dollars—a system where individuals own their money, finance is simple, and financial freedom is within reach.

Jake: Smart contracts are a hot topic and many say Bitcoin doesn’t have them. I know you take the opposite stance. What are Bitcoin smart contracts (DLCs)?
 Shehzan: Discreet Log Contracts (DLCs) are Bitcoin smart contracts that enable conditional, oracle-based agreements. Each party shares encrypted signatures for every possible contract outcome, verifiable to ensure trust. DLCs are secure, private, customizable, and scalable. They’re formally verified to avoid bugs, unlike frequent Ethereum exploits. Using off-chain oracles, they resist manipulation, and their off-chain execution keeps on-chain costs low.
FIN

If you want to put your BTC to use and check out what Lava is doing to make it easy to save in BTC and spend in dollars. Head over to their website. I’m an avid user.

⚡ I thought Lightning was dead. Why is BitGo adding support for it in 2025?

This is the thought I imagine brain dead people have at first glance when they saw the announcement that Voltage partnered with BitGo to bring Lightning to their customers base.

ICYMI. Voltage, a leading Lightning Payments Platform, announced a huge partnership with BitGo, one of the largest custodians and infrastructure providers. By combining BitGo’s institutional-grade security with Lightning’s scalability, the partnership empowers BitGo’s extensive client network to offer instant, low-cost payments, marking a significant step toward mainstream adoption of Bitcoin and stablecoins in financial systems.

Graham Krizek, CEO of Voltage had this to say.

This integration not only strengthens Bitcoin’s utility for enterprises but also paves the way for seamless stablecoin settlements, equipping financial institutions with cutting-edge payment infrastructure to meet growing demand. Something i’ve said many times on Twitter. While the hot narratives have moved to better bridges and sidechains, Lightning continues to see real adoption and practical usability.

🔥 Jake’s Quick Picks

My favorite finds of the week.

OP_Code Debates

• The Bitcoin nerds have descended on Microstrategy headquarters for the OP_NEXT conference this week (Hosted by my friends at Blockspace Media). It starts today, April 11th, You can watch the live stream here (LINK)

• ColliderVM whitepaper dropped today. Do I understand it? Zero % (LINK)

Fundraising & VC

• Bitcoin life insurance company, meanwhile, just raised $40m in a Series A round. (LINK)

• Magic Eden acquired Slingshot. The app that lets you buy tokens that are going to zero with Apple Pay. 🙏 (LINK)

Hot Projects

• The Babylon Genesis blockchain is officially live. The jury is still out on Bitcoin staking but the numbers are nutty ($4 billion in TVL) (LINK)

Worth Watching (If you’re a nerd)

• Jeremy Rubin gave a talk on his latest project, Char Network (LINK)

• Tadge Dryja talks about the current state of Bitcoin and adoption through the lens of freedom tech. I’m a Tadge-maxi (LINK)

🤔 Something To Ponder

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See you next week 🫡
- Jake