Project Background: Lighter
Lighter is a decentralized perpetual exchange backed by a16z. Built on Ethereum ZK Rollup and utilizing an order book model, it concluded its 8-month private test and officially launched its public mainnet on October 3, 2025.
Core Progress and Plans
* The platform plans to list RWA derivatives and Pre-launch perpetuals, though these were not available at the public testnet launch.
* The Token Generation Event is expected in Q4 2025, generating significant community anticipation.
* Trading volume data places Lighter among the top three Perp DEXs. However, its current Volume/OI ratio is middling, indicating moderate trading activity.
User Growth and Points Mechanism
Lighter employs an "Invite-Only Cold Start + Points-Driven Fission" strategy for growth. Users must reach a certain points threshold to obtain invitation codes.
* 250,000 points are distributed weekly with no inflation.
* This design, combined with Sybil attack prevention and airdrop expectations, creates a self-reinforcing growth flywheel.
Trading and Points Acquisition Strategy
* Small Capital Users (<$10k): Target assets with low Open Interest and low trading volume. Use limit orders and control leverage and risk (e.g., ≤5x leverage, maintain a 2x margin buffer).
* Medium/Large Capital Users (≥$10k–$1m): Utilize APIs for low-impact trading (e.g., TWAP/VWAP). Monitor cancel-to-fill ratios (e.g., keep ≤70%) and employ hedging strategies to avoid being flagged as wash trading.
* User Public Pools: Participating can earn points, but risks must be carefully assessed.
* Liquidity Providers (LLPs): The current APR is approximately 60%. Profits are derived from trader P&L, funding fees, and liquidation fees.
* Lighter maintains a zero-fee trading model, appealing to high-frequency traders.
* Post-TGE, it is recommended to enhance user retention through continuous reward programs and a VIP tier system.
* Technologically, it leverages the Ethereum ecosystem, emphasizing composability and the verifiability of ZK proofs, positioning itself as a "verifiable exchange on the Ethereum endgame."
Ecological Positioning
Lighter is closely tied to Ethereum, focusing on low-cost, censorship-resistant, and trust-minimized trading. This contrasts with platforms like Aster, which has ties to Binance.
Summary
Lighter - Don't trust—verify
This generation of Perp DEXs is fundamentally different from the previous era represented by GMX and DYDX.
Lighter, a Perp DEX backed by a16z, is built on Ethereum ZK Rollup and uses a Central Limit Order Book model. In an AMA in late August, the team outlined future plans, including launching RWA derivatives and Pre-launch perpetuals. Points Season 1 (private test) was ending, with distribution rules partially hidden to prevent farming. Season 2 (public test) would offer clearer guidance. The team also planned to gradually disclose notable investors. Crucially, the TGE remains on track for Q4 2025.
On October 3, 2025, after 8 months of private testing, the Lighter public mainnet launched. However, RWA perpetuals, Pre-launch perpetuals, and Spot trading were not yet live, raising questions about potential TGE delays. It's speculated that Spot trading might launch with the TGE, while RWA and Pre-launch perpetuals could follow during the public test phase.
Data from October 1, 2025, showed Hyperliquid, Aster, and Lighter leading in 24h trading volume and OI among Perp DEXs. The Volume/OI ratio tells another story: Hyperliquid (<1) suggests healthier markets with users holding positions overnight; Lighter (~6) is moderate; Aster (~40) is highest, indicating potential significant wash trading in its new season. Following the successful TGEs of Hyperliquid and Aster, the community highly anticipates whether Lighter will be the next "epic airdrop."
Lighter's User Growth Flywheel and Points Incentive Mechanism
Lighter's growth logic revolves around "Invite-Only Cold Start" and "Points-Driven Fission."
* During the 8-month cold start, access was invite-only. (Public test is now open, but users with >50 weekly points still get 3 codes). Earning invites required significant trading volume or points, increasing the cost of Sybil attacks and creating scarcity and FOMO, even leading to OTC trading of codes and points.
* The fixed weekly distribution of 250,000 points is non-inflationary.
This combines cold start, fission, Sybil resistance, and airdrop incentives into a self-reinforcing flywheel: Expected Airdrop → Trade for Points → Unlock Invites → Fission Spread → Community Grows → Perceived Point Value Rises → Attracts More Users.
Official Hints for Earning Points
* Small Capital (< $10k): Target low OI and low volume assets (as officially suggested) to be more visible to the points model without impacting slippage. Use small, frequent limit orders; avoid unstructured "order waterfalls." Manage risk with low leverage (≤5x), ample margin buffer, and strict stop-loss/take-profit orders. Be wary of the painful 1% nominal principal liquidation fee. Use sub-accounts for strategy/risk isolation, not multi-account farming (Sybil detection will zero points).
* Medium/Large Capital (≥ $10k–$1m) & Semi-Auto/Quant: Use API keys (get role in Discord) for low-impact execution (TWAP/VWAP). Control order-to-fill and cancel ratios (e.g., keep cancel rate ≤70% as an internal red line) to avoid being flagged for wash trading/HFT abuse. For HFT-adjacent strategies, factor in potential fees (0.02%/0.002%); for mid-term/trend accounts, maintain characteristics of the retail tier (0 fees): low frequency, low cancellation, high fill ratio, long holding periods. Hedge positions on other exchanges for "real trading" – avoid wash trades or self-trading within the same account.
User Public Pools: Points and Capital Efficiency
* Passive Participants: DeFi Farmers seeking "capital for points" (new rule: need 50 points first for 25% allocation) should prioritize user-created pools (protocol-operated LLP pools don't earn points). Filter pools based on historical drawdown, net value curve, max position size, 30-day win rate, and average holding period.
* Active Managers: Creating a user pool expands capital scale and points sources. However, managers should co-invest, publicly disclose strategy/rules/risk limits to build trust, and avoid excessive risk just for points.
Based on personal experience, here are some conjectures (not necessarily correct) regarding "real trading" points and anti-wash trading mechanics:
1. Formula: Points = (Real Trade Volume × Maker Quality × OI-hours × Negative Price Impact Reward); if any factor is zero, total points are zero.
2. Multipliers: Market making within key depth (e.g., 1 bp) might carry weight; longer net holding periods likely have higher weights (encouraging real risk exposure).
3. Exclusions: Wash trades within the same account/IP/device over short periods, extremely high cancel ratios, and net OI ≈ 0 "self-trading" loops are likely penalized.
Avoid two extremes: 1) high volume with minimal OI-hours (open/close instantly), and 2) low volume with high OI-hours via hedged positions – both might yield low final points.
Public Pools
Public pools include protocol and user-created pools, similar in concept to Hyperliquid.
Liquidity Providers (LLPs)
Lighter offers zero fees for all traders (both Maker and Taker), aiming to attract high-frequency traders. As of the public test launch, trading remains free for retail users; only funding fees are exchanged between longs and shorts, with no platform cut.
In this model, LLP收益主要来源于:
* Trader P&L: LPs act as the counterparty; if most traders lose, profits flow to the LLP pool.
* Liquidation Fees: During liquidation, some positions are matched at "0 price"; if filled better, a fee (up to 1%) is injected into the LLP pool. LPs act as an insurance fund during forced deleveraging or close-only liquidations, earning fees.
* Funding Fees: LPs earn funding fees paid by the counterparty.
The current LLP APR is ~60% (e.g., 21 profitable days vs. 9 loss days in September). With zero fees initially, LLP income heavily depends on market volatility and trader performance. Future plans include introducing fee sharing for LPs.
Post-public test launch, the barrier for entering public pool LLPs increased: users now need 50 points first to allocate 25% capital, helping maintain high APR and protect early users from dilution.
User Public Pools are similar to Hyperliquid's system, resembling secondary funds or copy-trading, where fund managers take a 20-30% performance cut. The key difference is that participants in User Public Pools earn points (unlike LLPs), but this comes with higher risk and requires caution.
Post-TGE Sustainability Suggestions
Without a token yet, user retention relies on points incentives and community, with "zero fees" being a major selling point. For long-term health post-TGE:
1. Continuous Rewards: Follow Aster's example by reserving tokens for post-airdrop rewards (e.g., based on monthly/quarterly volume, active days) to smooth the post-airdrop activity dip.
2. VIP Tiers at TGE: Learn from Hyperliquid (which launched this late) and implement user tiers based on token holdings or trading volume. Benefits could include fee discounts, priority support, and beta access. This encourages token holding and incentivizes high-volume users to maintain activity for discounts.
Overall, Lighter leverages ZK for fairness, offers zero fees for user-friendliness, and uses a points mechanism to build momentum, ensuring its place in the Perp DEX landscape. As mentioned in the late August AMA, Lighter will gradually disclose notable investors. The public test launch was endorsed by retweets from several Ethereum ecosystem founders (e.g., EigenLayer), and reports suggest participation from Founders Fund and Arthur Hayes.
Finally, Lighter and the "Ethereum Endgame"
Unlike Hyperliquid, which built its own L1, Lighter is natively composable on Ethereum L2. For example, LLP tokens can be utilized on Mainnet, integrating with protocols like Aave, benefiting from low-cost, low-latency, verifiable execution. Its ecosystem follows the "Ethereum Composability" path for faster DeFi integration, rather than a closed loop.
Lighter = A "Verifiable Exchange" on the Ethereum Endgame. It places the exchange's two most critical functions – price-time priority matching and liquidation – into ZK proofs, while entrusting asset custody, state, and data availability to Ethereum. As EIP-4844 → Danksharding, (e)PBS, and potential native Rollups develop, Lighter's advantages in cost, censorship resistance, and trust minimization will become more like "protocol-level features." This is its structural alignment with the Ethereum endgame.
If Aster's backing is Binance, then Lighter's backing is Ethereum.
<100 subscribers
Share Dialog
No comments yet