Lighter ZK Perp DEX: status and timeline

Lighter ZK Perp DEX

A perpetual futures DEX built on a custom Ethereum zk-rollup with zero trading fees. Matches orders and executes liquidations using zero-knowledge proofs verified onchain.

ScalingStage 5 of 5

Live on mainnet. Captured ~23% perp-DEX market share by end of 2025; LIT token launched December 30, 2025.

Updated 30 Dec 2025Checked 10 Oct0 updates this week

Milestones

No announced next step

Lighter founded and development begins2022Complete.
Mainnet launch with invite-only access2024Complete.
Series A funding ($21M)2024Complete.
Public mainnet opens2025Complete.
Series B funding ($68M) led by Founders FundNov 2025Complete.
LIT token launch and trading begins30 Dec 2025Complete.

Most important updates

Current obstacles

Market share concentrationHyperliquid holds ~68% of perp-DEX market share. Lighter must differentiate beyond zero fees to retain users as incentives taper.
Proving system complexityAs trading volume grows, generating and verifying ZK proofs for every transaction becomes computationally expensive, potentially limiting throughput.

Physics limits

Proof generation latencyZero-knowledge proofs for each transaction add computational overhead; generating proofs fast enough to match traditional order book speeds is a hard problem.
Capital efficiency vs. securityMoving more computation offchain to improve latency reduces the transparency advantage that ZK rollups provide, forcing a trade-off.

How it works

3 parts

Order Matching

On-chain order book with ZK proofs

Orders placed and matched on the zk-rollup. Match proofs verified onchain, ensuring transparency without revealing details.

Settlement

Ethereum-settled positions

Position state and collateral are settled on Ethereum L1, inheriting its security while the L2 handles the performance overhead of order matching.

Liquidations

Automated liquidations verified by ZK proofs

When a position exceeds its risk limit, liquidation is executed and verified onchain using ZK proofs, eliminating the need for external liquidators.

Spec sheet

Spec	Lighter ZK Perp DEX
TVL before token launch	$1.4B^R (reported)
Daily trading volume (Jan 2026)	$3.75–4.58B^R (reported)
30-day trading volume (before TGE)	$232.3B^R (reported)
Open interest (Jan 2026)	$1.53B^R (reported)

^R reported by the company

Update log

2 updates

Tue 30 Dec 2025

Major: Lighter launches native LIT token; 50% allocated to community and early tradersPressCommercial

Nov 2025

Major: Lighter raises $68M Series B led by Founders Fund at $1.5B valuationPressFunding

About Lighter

The team behind Lighter ZK Perp DEX

Lighter

ZK perp DEX, zero-fee trading

Lighter is a perpetual DEX built on an Ethereum zk-rollup. Zero-fee trading with on-chain order book verified by ZK proofs, settling on Ethereum. Captured ~23% perp-DEX market by end of 2025; $232B 30-day volume pre-token launch.

Lighter's zero-knowledge rollup eliminates trading fees by verifying order matching and liquidations with ZK proofs on Ethereum.
In November 2025, Lighter raised $68M led by Founders Fund and Ribbit Capital, valuing the company at $1.5B.
The platform surged from invite-only experiment to market leader among DEX challengers in under two years.

lighter.xyz (opens lighter.xyz)Company profile →

Founded: 20224 yrs
Headquarters: United States
Status: Private
Valuation: $1.5BprivateNov 2025
Raised: $89M2 rounds
Last round: Series B · $68MNov 2025
Works in: CryptoTrading & DeFi
Coverage: 1 program · 4 updateslatest 30 Dec 2025checked 10 Oct
Lead investors: Founders FundRibbit Capital
Investors: Founders Fund (opens foundersfund.com)Ribbit Capital (opens ribbitcap.com)Robinhood (opens robinhood.com)
People: Vladimir Novakovski (opens linkedin.com)Founder & CEO

Spec

Lighter ZK Perp DEX

TVL before token launch

$1.4B^R (reported)

Daily trading volume (Jan 2026)

$3.75–4.58B^R (reported)

30-day trading volume (before TGE)

$232.3B^R (reported)

Open interest (Jan 2026)

$1.53B^R (reported)