Hyperliquid’s top competitor, Lighter, has announced the debut of its native LIT token. This comes after a high level of investor interest in the platform as it prepares to distribute the token via an airdrop.
Lighter Reveals the LIT Token Framework
The perp exchange confirmed on X the upcoming launch of its native token, called LIT. According to the team, the token aims to create a common benefit system for traders, developers, institutions, and investors.
We are announcing the Lighter Infrastructure Token (LIT)! Lighter is building infrastructure for the future of finance and the native token is key to aligning incentives. In this thread, we will describe the structure of the token, broader vision, and roadmap of use cases.
— Lighter (@Lighter_xyz) December 30, 2025
The company said that all economic value generated by its products will benefit LIT token holders directly. The products will involve simple financial services, starting from its core DEX.
“The value created by all Lighter products and services will fully accrue to LIT holders. We are building in the USA and the token is issued directly from our C-Corp, which will continue to operate the protocol at cost,“ they shared.
The revenues will be tracked openly on-chain and distributed between the ecosystem development efforts and token buybacks based on the general markets.
The token supply is equally distributed between the ecosystem and internal stakeholders. 50% of LIT is reserved for the ecosystem, while 50% is reserved for the team and investors.
However, the allocations in the team and investors have a one-year lockup period and a subsequent three-year linear vesting schedule. In the internal allocation, the team and investors will get 26% and 24%, respectively.
The exchange also intends to integrate its LIT token into market data validation and pricing infrastructure. This is where the token will act as a fee and staking solution for the providers and the subscribers.
It’s worth mentioning that Lighter secured $68 million in funding from investors. This came after its public mainnet launched in October. Its user base has continued to grow as it continues to gain momentum.
Investor Demand Grows Ahead of Token Launch
The announcement comes at a period of high market expectations. A massive majority of traders had already positioned for a near-term launch in the lead-up to the reveal. According to Polymarket traders, the token would go live before year’s end.
Speculation went into overdrive after Hyperliquid listed a pre-market perpetual contract linked to the token last week. That allowed traders to take long and short positions into the main event of token generation.
Further increasing expectations, the platform recently transferred 250 million LIT tokens, adding to beliefs that the event in question may be the Lighter airdrop before the official TGE.
The platform was founded in 2022 by Vladimir Novakovski. Since then, it has become one of the largest decentralized trading platforms for derivatives.
