New RWA listing, new region!
We're continuing to experiment with global market exposure, now bringing $TUR30 — 30 of the largest companies on the Istanbul Stock Exchange — to Lighter 🇹🇷 https://t.co/pCGFPKLQBL
3.6/ 5
Our score
Good
Chains
EthereumArbitrumOther
Swap fee
Zero fees for retail traders; maker and taker fees apply to Lighter Spot
Type
Order bookPerpetuals
Perpetual futures
Yes
Audited
Yes
Governance token
LIT
What is Lighter?
Lighter operates as a decentralized exchange and zero-knowledge rollup on Ethereum, offering spot markets alongside perpetual futures. Custom circuits generate proofs for operations such as order matching and liquidations. Retail trading carries zero fees according to the website. In November 2025, the platform raised $68 million at an approximate valuation of $1.5 billion.
Company and funding
Founder and CEO Vladimir Novakovski launched Lighter in 2022. He previously worked at Citadel, Quora and Addepar, and co-founded Lunchclub before shifting focus to crypto. The November 2025 round was led by Founders Fund and Ribbit Capital, with participation from Haun Ventures and Robinhood Markets. Earlier, in 2024, Haun Ventures and Craft Ventures led a $21 million round joined by Dragonfly and Robot Ventures.
How the exchange works
The platform runs its core exchange logic on a custom Ethereum rollup where trades settle by price-time priority. An integrated matching engine, risk engine and executor process incoming orders, update account margins and trigger liquidations, while a batch prover bundles activity into compact proofs verified directly on Ethereum. Users retain withdrawal rights through the base layer if the rollup stops running.
Trading covers spot markets and perpetual futures with deposits settled directly on Ethereum. An EVM-equivalent devnet runs alongside Lighter Core for smart-contract development. Recent updates added unified spot and perpetual profit-and-loss views, improved conditional-order confirmations and expanded liquidation-price details for illiquid markets.
Fees and access
Advertised fees for retail trading are zero. Both maker and taker fees apply across Lighter Perps and Lighter Spot, while the exchange lists high-frequency trading fees as very competitive. Traders can access order books through web and mobile applications. A scheduled maintenance upgrade on October 18, 2026 was planned to take under 15 minutes of downtime.
Track record and risks
Total value locked stood at $728.11 million on October 17, 2026, marking a 3.8% increase over 30 days. That figure peaked at $1.46 billion on December 18, 2025. Documentation lists security assessments covering Lighter Core, the EVM deposit bridge, block circuits, delta circuits, wrapper contracts, the Desert exit system and spot contracts.
Smart contracts and bridges carry inherent technical risks. Perpetual contracts involve leverage and liquidation hazards, and thin trading pairs can trigger slippage. The platform token is LIT, supported by a programmatic buyback that retired 2,452,017 tokens through the third quarter of 2026.
Founders
Vladimir NovakovskiFounder and CEO
He previously worked at Citadel, Quora and Addepar, and co-founded Lunchclub.
Best for:On-chain perpetuals tradersEthereum-based spot tradersUsers seeking ZK-verified matchingHigh-frequency crypto traders
Pros and cons
Pros
- Zero advertised fees for retail trading
- Ethereum verifies proofs for matching and liquidations
- Spot and perpetual markets share one exchange
- $728.11 million TVL on October 17, 2026
- Security assessments cover core, bridge and circuit components
Cons
- Perpetuals carry liquidation and leverage risk
- Maker and taker fees apply to spot and perps
- Custom rollup and bridge components add technical risk
- Thin markets can create slippage and liquidation risk
Our review
3.6/5
Good
Lighter combines verifiable order-book perps with Ethereum settlement and spot trading.
Lighter is an order-book DEX built as a zero-knowledge rollup on Ethereum. Its main focus is perpetual futures, with spot trading also available. Matching follows price-time priority, while custom circuits prove order matching, liquidations, balances and other operations before verification on Ethereum.
The exchange advertises zero fees for retail traders, but high-frequency accounts receive a different fee schedule. Perpetuals and spot markets still apply maker and taker fees, so the zero-fee claim does not describe every account or product. Limit-style order functionality is supported by the order-book model, and recent product updates added clearer conditional-order confirmations and liquidation-price details for illiquid markets.
TVL was about $728 million on October 17, 2026, after a 3.8% increase over 30 days, although it remained below the reported $1.46 billion peak from December 2025. Ethereum provides the settlement layer, while the exchange operates on the zkLighter rollup. Thin markets can carry risks of slippage and liquidation.
Users retain withdrawal rights through Ethereum if the rollup goes offline, and Lighter publishes security assessments covering Lighter Core, its EVM deposit bridge, circuits, wrapper contracts, the Desert exit system and spot contracts. The system relies on specialized circuits and bridge components. A planned network upgrade on October 18, 2026 was expected to cause under 15 minutes of downtime.
Founder and CEO Vladimir Novakovski previously worked at Citadel and co-founded Lunchclub after roles at Quora and Addepar. Lighter raised $21 million in 2024 and $68 million in November 2025 at a reported $1.5 billion valuation, with Founders Fund and Ribbit Capital leading the later round alongside Haun Ventures and Robinhood Markets. The project also has an LIT token and reported a buyback burn of 2,452,017 LIT through the end of Q3 2026.
Specs
| Type | Order book, Perpetuals · unverified |
|---|---|
| Chains | Ethereum, Arbitrum, Other |
| Swap fee | Zero fees for retail traders; maker and taker fees apply to Lighter Spot · unverified |
| Limit orders | Yes · unverified |
| Audited | Yes · unverified |
| Governance token | LIT · unverified |
| Perpetual futures | Yes · unverified |
| Routes across other DEXs | No · unverified |
| Mobile app | Yes · unverified |
| Points or rewards program | Yes · unverified |
Not disclosed by the provider: KYC required, Cross-chain swaps, Open source, Max leverage (x), MEV protection.
Data from the provider's website and public sources. Fees and availability change; confirm on the official site before you sign up.
Key features
ZK order matching
Custom circuits prove order matching and liquidations, with batch proofs verified on Ethereum.
Perpetual futures
The exchange offers perpetual-futures markets with a risk engine that monitors margin and liquidates risky accounts.
Spot trading
Lighter includes spot markets alongside perpetuals, with maker and taker fees applying to spot trading.
Price-time orders
Trades match by price-time priority. Recent updates improved conditional-order confirmations with trigger and limit prices.
Ethereum settlement
Lighter operates as a custom Ethereum rollup, with deposits, withdrawals and proof verification connected to Ethereum.
Unified portfolio PnL
Portfolio PnL v2 combines spot and perpetual trading profit and loss in one view.
Inside Lighter
Lighter DEX
The main exchange combines order-book trading with a zero-knowledge rollup on Ethereum. It proves operations such as matching and liquidations, and gives users Ethereum-based deposit and withdrawal paths.
Lighter Perps
Lighter Perps provides perpetual-futures markets with price-time priority matching and a risk engine that monitors margin and liquidates risky accounts. Maker and taker fees apply.
Lighter Spot
Lighter Spot provides spot trading on the Lighter exchange. Its operations are processed through the same rollup infrastructure, with maker and taker fees applying.
Lighter EVM
Lighter EVM is an EVM-equivalent devnet built with Axiom and powered by OpenVM. It runs alongside Lighter Core and is designed to let developers deploy contracts, access trading data, manage orders and move assets across the ecosystem.
Lighter screenshots
What users say about Lighter
Users mostly praise Lighter for zero-fee trading and a smooth, accessible trading experience. The main recurring complaint is limited chart and technical-analysis customization, with isolated concerns about authentication and missing app features.
Top goods
In their own words
“Way better than Hyperliquid No fees, completely permission-less and auditable, and lower latency versus Hyperliquid. Way easier to use too for newbies versus Hype. I hope they add way more RWAs though including equities. Perps are the future”
“Best trading experience Nothing comes close, this app is smoothest trading experience in crypto”
“I’m using Lighter.xyz, free version so 0 fees. There’s no fixed spread as it’s ZK roll up.”
“More Features great app and team but we definitely need more options to customized the chart, indicators and technical analysis please.”
“Best Crypto Leverage Platform just needs more customization options”
Scam warning: A user reported a deposit stuck in bridging after using the official mobile app and being directed to phishing or fraudulent support.
Based on 14 App Store reviews, 19 Reddit posts and comments from the last 12 months, checked Oct 18, 2026. These are posts by users on other sites, not reviews submitted on CryptoReview.
User reviews
No user reviews yet. Have you used Lighter? Share your experience below.
Funding and investors
$89MTotal raised
3Rounds
8Investors
-
Funding round Nov 2025 $68MFF Founders FundVenture capital Lead RC Ribbit CapitalVenture capital Lead RM Robinhood MarketsCorporate VCSource
-
Funding round Jan 2024 $21MHV Haun VenturesVenture capital Lead CV Craft VenturesVenture capital DR DragonflyVenture capitalSource
Robot VenturesVenture capital
-
Funding round Amount undisclosed
FAQ
Who founded Lighter?
Vladimir Novakovski founded Lighter in 2022 and serves as its CEO. His previous professional experience includes Citadel, Quora, Addepar and co-founding Lunchclub.
What are Lighter's trading fees?
Lighter says retail traders pay zero fees. Maker and taker fees apply to Lighter Perps and Lighter Spot, while high-frequency trading has fees described as competitive.
Is Lighter safe to use?
Lighter generates ZK proofs for order matching and liquidations, with proof verification and final settlement on Ethereum. Published security assessments cover Lighter Core, its EVM deposit bridge, circuits, wrapper contracts, the Desert exit system and spot contracts.
Which chains does Lighter support?
Lighter settles proofs and system state changes on Ethereum and runs trading on its own zkLighter rollup. Its EVM devnet runs alongside Lighter Core and is designed to settle jointly with it on Ethereum.
Does Lighter have a token?
Yes, Lighter has the LIT token. The project reported burning 2,452,017 LIT, representing tokens bought back programmatically through the end of Q3 2026.
Does Lighter offer perpetual futures?
Yes, Lighter Perps offers perpetual-futures trading through the exchange's order-book system. Matching uses price-time priority, while liquidations are included in the operations proved by its custom ZK circuits.
Latest from Lighter on X
Looking forward to building with @brix_money 🤝
Lighter 🤝 @awscloud
https://t.co/a1zLWTvoQF https://t.co/riMeBRHub7
https://t.co/a1zLWTvoQF https://t.co/riMeBRHub7
New perp listing! You can now trade $XTEN (pre-market) on Lighter Core at 5x leverage. https://t.co/eIch9z8kBm
OpenMarket 🤝 ZeroFees
Recent public posts from @Lighter_xyz, shown as published. Not reviewed or endorsed by CryptoReview.
Latest from Lighter on Telegram
Lighter Announcements
Join
@lighter_announcements · 6.4K subscribers
gm
Weekly Update
Product Updates
• We have sunset the legacy Lighter Solana bridge.
• Binary options now support 1-hour markets, with 15m and 1h tabs and improved price source information.
• New Market Sessions chart indicator, with session highs and lows resetting daily.
• Collateral setting changes now require confirmation and display an update notification.
• Margin mode restrictions now include explanations and links to additional information.
• New Perp Listing: $XTEN (Extended) on Lighter Core at 5x leverage.
• New Perp Listings on Lighter on Robinhood Chain: $UNI at 15x leverage, and $LINK, $AAVE, $XMR, and $TRX at 10x leverage.
Integrators
• VOOI — Launched an RWA trading…
Weekly Update
Product Updates
• We have sunset the legacy Lighter Solana bridge.
• Binary options now support 1-hour markets, with 15m and 1h tabs and improved price source information.
• New Market Sessions chart indicator, with session highs and lows resetting daily.
• Collateral setting changes now require confirmation and display an update notification.
• Margin mode restrictions now include explanations and links to additional information.
• New Perp Listing: $XTEN (Extended) on Lighter Core at 5x leverage.
• New Perp Listings on Lighter on Robinhood Chain: $UNI at 15x leverage, and $LINK, $AAVE, $XMR, and $TRX at 10x leverage.
Integrators
• VOOI — Launched an RWA trading…
781 View on Telegram
gm
We will be performing a network upgrade on Sunday, November 1 at 12:00 PM UTC. Expected downtime is under 20 minutes.
Please manage your positions in advance, as order placement will be unavailable during the upgrade.
We will be performing a network upgrade on Sunday, November 1 at 12:00 PM UTC. Expected downtime is under 20 minutes.
Please manage your positions in advance, as order placement will be unavailable during the upgrade.
806 View on Telegram
gm
Lighter on Robinhood Chain Points
A total of 115,000 points were distributed today to the Lighter Community.
Earnings and hedging boosts continue this week, with additional boosts for newly listed markets.
Read the docs: https://docs.lighter.xyz/programs/lighter-on-robinhood-chain-points
Artificial trading activities will not earn points.
Lighter on Robinhood Chain Points
A total of 115,000 points were distributed today to the Lighter Community.
Earnings and hedging boosts continue this week, with additional boosts for newly listed markets.
Read the docs: https://docs.lighter.xyz/programs/lighter-on-robinhood-chain-points
Artificial trading activities will not earn points.
gm
We're aware of reports of a potential Binance hack and that some users' transfers are not appearing in their Binance balances, even after being completed onchain.
As a precaution, we recommend avoiding direct transfers to Binance for now. If you've already made a transfer and don't see your funds, please reach out to Binance Support with your transaction hash for assistance.
We're aware of reports of a potential Binance hack and that some users' transfers are not appearing in their Binance balances, even after being completed onchain.
As a precaution, we recommend avoiding direct transfers to Binance for now. If you've already made a transfer and don't see your funds, please reach out to Binance Support with your transaction hash for assistance.
1.4K View on Telegram
Recent posts from the official Telegram channel @lighter_announcements, shown as published. Not reviewed or endorsed by CryptoReview.
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