Lighter, an Ethereum-based Layer-2 decentralized perpetual futures exchange, has launched its native asset, the Lighter Infrastructure Token (LIT), with 25% of the supply distributed via an airdrop.
The team made the announcement on the official X account on December 30, 2025. Lighter now joins other decentralized finance (DeFi) networks with its own token initiative.
LIT Token Debuts With 25% Airdrop
In a detailed thread, Lighter outlined the tokenomics and use cases of its native token. The team revealed that LIT supply is split evenly between the ecosystem, the team, and the investors. Of the 50% allocated to the ecosystem,
Sponsored- 25% airdropped at TGE (Points S1 and S2).
- Lighter will keep the other 25% reserved for future growth, including additional points seasons, partnerships, and ecosystem initiatives.
Lighter has allocated the other 50% of the total supply to the team and investors. The team will receive 26%, while investors will get 24%. All of these tokens are subject to a 1-year cliff. Moreover, after the initial 1-year lockup, team and investor tokens vest linearly over a 3-year period.
It’s worth noting that many users have reported receiving the airdrop. Furthermore, the token went live for trading after the initial announcement. At the time of writing, LIT was trading at $2.45.
In terms of utility, LIT is designed to underpin Lighter’s broader infrastructure stack. Holding LIT allows participants to access products designed to improve execution quality, capital efficiency, and risk-adjusted outcomes.
“Our framework for utility of the LIT token is to consider how value is exchanged across the financial system and to build infrastructure in ways that value is accrued to efficiency, transparency, and innovation,” the team wrote.
At the infrastructure level, LIT is staked to participate in tiered execution and verification systems that ensure transactions are fair and accurate. In parallel, LIT functions as both the fee and staking token for market data and price validation, incentivizing the provision of verifiable data used in trading and risk management.
“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,” Lighter added.
The token launch follows the DEX’s $68 million fundraising round in November, which valued the project at $1.5 billion. Furthermore, DefiLama data showed that the protocol’s TVL has seen notable growth, reaching an ATH of $1.456 billion in mid-December.
