Overview
Lighter is a decentralized exchange for perpetual futures built on Ethereum, founded by Vladimir Novakovski, a former Citadel engineer. It launched its LIT token on 30 December 2025.
Lighter’s main hook is zero trading fees for regular users, while professional traders pay for faster access. It became one of the largest on-chain perpetuals venues, with tens of billions of dollars in monthly volume. (We also have a separate Lighter exchange review for traders.)
How it works
- Lighter runs as a zero-knowledge rollup: trades are matched off-chain at high speed, then proven with ZK proofs on Ethereum, so users can verify that orders were executed fairly and withdraw funds even if the operator disappears.
- Users trade from their own wallets with leverage.
- Deposits on Lighter were about $810 million according to DeFiLlama.
Buybacks
From 6 January 2026, Lighter began a buyback program, splitting revenue between growth and buying back LIT. By April 2026, it had bought about 10 million LIT, around 4% of the circulating supply, and LIT rallied strongly during the year, helped by a Robinhood integration.
The LIT token
| LIT at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Maximum supply | 1 billion LIT |
| In circulation (Oct 2026) | about 250 million |
| Price (29 Oct 2026) | about $3.27 |
| All-time high | about $7.86 (December 2025) |
| Market cap | about $820 million (#83) |
Risks
- Unlock cliff. Team and investor tokens begin vesting from December 2026; one analysis estimates net new supply of over 100 million LIT a year after that, more than the buybacks absorb.
- Competition. Hyperliquid leads on-chain perps, and many rivals offer incentives.
- Regulation. Lighter has no public US regulatory filings.
- Leverage. Perpetual futures can wipe out deposits quickly.
Lighter vs. the competition
| Lighter | Hyperliquid | Aster | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Security | ZK proofs on Ethereum | Own Layer 1 | BNB Chain |
| Retail fees | Zero | Low | Low |
| Token value | Buybacks | Buybacks with almost all fees | Buybacks + burns |
Our verdict
Lighter is one of the most interesting new exchanges, combining free trading with Ethereum-grade verifiability, and its buybacks show it has real revenue. But the December 2026 unlock is a major risk for the token. LIT is a high-risk investment, and leveraged trading itself is only for experienced users. Invest only what you can afford to lose.
This review is for information only and is not financial advice.