Lighter (LIT) - Zero-Fee ZK Rollup DEX on Ethereum

Centralized Exchanges Are Still Holding Your Keys#

Every year, billions of dollars vanish when centralized exchanges collapse, get hacked, or freeze withdrawals without warning. Traders watch helplessly as platforms they trusted disappear overnight, taking their assets with them. The promise of crypto was self-custody and transparency, yet most trading still happens on opaque platforms where you have no real control over your funds.

Trade at CEX Speed Without Giving Up Your Keys#

Lighter is building the exchange that should have existed from day one. A fully verifiable decentralized exchange where every order match and liquidation is proven cryptographically on Ethereum. You get the speed and cost efficiency of centralized trading with the security of keeping your assets in your own wallet. Zero fees for retail traders. Millisecond latency. Complete transparency.

What is Lighter coin?#

What does Lighter do?#

🔐 Verifiable Order Matching: Lighter is the first exchange to generate ZK proofs for every single order match and liquidation. This means no one can front-run your trades, manipulate order priority, or execute unfair liquidations. Every operation follows publicly defined rules that are mathematically verified on Ethereum.

⚡ High-Frequency Performance: The platform processes tens of thousands of orders per second with millisecond latency. Custom ZK circuits and purpose-built data structures called Order Book Trees enable CEX-grade speed while maintaining full decentralization. Traders experience the same responsiveness as traditional exchanges.

💰 Zero Trading Fees: Retail traders pay absolutely nothing in maker or taker fees. The infrastructure is so optimized that Lighter can offer free trading while remaining sustainable. High-frequency traders get extremely competitive rates through premium accounts.

🛡️ Ethereum Security: All proofs and state changes settle directly on Ethereum. Your assets remain in smart contracts secured by the most battle-tested blockchain. An Escape Hatch mechanism guarantees you can always withdraw directly to Ethereum even if the sequencer goes offline.

📊 Multi-Asset Trading: Beyond crypto perpetuals, Lighter supports real-world assets including forex pairs, gold, silver, and equity perpetuals for stocks like NVDA, TSLA, and AAPL. The platform offers up to 50x leverage on major pairs with isolated and cross-margin options.

🌉 Multi-Chain Deposits: Deposit USDC from Ethereum, Arbitrum, Solana, Base, Avalanche, or HyperEVM. The bridging infrastructure makes onboarding seamless regardless of which chain your assets currently sit on.

Who are behind Lighter?#

Vlad Novakovski - Founder & CEO

• Background spans mathematics, trading, AI, and zero-knowledge cryptography
• Led the technical vision from concept to mainnet over 18 months of development
• Actively engages with the community through AMAs and X Spaces
• Previously built trading and AI systems before founding Lighter

Scott Wu - Technical Advisor

• Founder of Cognition Labs, creators of Devin AI
• Recognized as one of the leading minds in AI and engineering
• Provides technical guidance on the ZK infrastructure
• His involvement signals the caliber of engineering behind Lighter

Why This Team Inspires Confidence#

Top-Tier Investors: Lighter raised funding from Coinbase Ventures and received a strategic investment from Robinhood. When the biggest names in crypto and fintech back a project, it validates both the team and the technology.

Institutional Infrastructure: Anchorage Digital provides day-one custody support for LIT, while FalconX handles OTC trading. This institutional-grade infrastructure shows Lighter is built for serious capital, not just retail speculation.

Battle-Tested Security: Multiple security audits from firms like Nethermind and Block have been completed and published. The smart contracts and ZK circuits have been thoroughly reviewed before handling billions in trading volume.

Proven Execution: From testnet launch to over $1B TVL in under a year demonstrates the team can ship and scale. The protocol handled extreme market volatility including major crash events while maintaining system integrity.

Transparent Operations: Protocol revenues and buybacks are trackable on-chain through the treasury account. The team commits to long-term value creation with buybacks funded by actual trading fees.

What to Know Before You Buy Lighter#

1. Native Token of a Revenue-Generating Protocol

LIT is the infrastructure token for Lighter, and all value created by the platform accrues directly to token holders. The token is issued from a US C-Corp that operates the protocol, creating a direct link between platform success and token value.

2. Active Buyback Program

Protocol revenues fund ongoing LIT buybacks depending on market conditions. These buybacks are transparent and trackable through the on-chain treasury, creating consistent buying pressure from real business activity.

3. First-Mover in Verifiable Trading

Lighter pioneered ZK-proven order matching and liquidations. While other DEXs rely on trust assumptions or limited consensus mechanisms, Lighter mathematically proves every operation. This technological moat is extremely difficult for competitors to replicate.

4. Institutional Adoption Growing

With Coinbase Ventures, Robinhood, Anchorage, and FalconX already involved, institutional capital has clear on-ramps to the Lighter ecosystem. As traditional finance continues exploring crypto infrastructure, Lighter is positioned as the compliant, verifiable option.

5. Expanding Product Suite

Beyond crypto perpetuals, Lighter already offers forex, commodities, and equity perpetuals. Spot trading launched recently with zero fees. The roadmap includes additional asset types and a general-purpose side-car VM for broader DeFi composability.

6. Strong Community Retention

Over 50% of airdrop recipients chose to hold rather than sell their LIT tokens. This retention rate signals genuine community conviction in the project’s long-term potential rather than short-term farming behavior.

How to buy Lighter?#

Lighter can be purchased through GMGN, a popular decentralized trading platform. Move your Ethereum from centralized exchanges like Binance to your GMGN Ethereum wallet, then swap for Lighter. Make sure you have enough ETH in your wallet to cover gas fees for the transaction.

Buy Lighter on GMGN

GMGN offers a streamlined trading experience with real-time charts, wallet tracking, and easy token swaps. The platform is widely trusted by traders for accessing new tokens quickly and safely on Ethereum.