Lighter, one of the fastest growing perpetual exchanges on-chain, has sparked a sharp debate within the DeFi community following its edition from tokenomics for its newly announced Lighter Infrastructure Token, LIT.
The release raises new questions about what constitutes a fair launch in an increasingly institutionalized on-chain derivatives market.
Under the protocol, 50% of LIT tokens are allocated to users, partners and growth incentives, while the remaining 50% is reserved for the team and investors.
Lighter stated that allocations to insiders are subject to a one-year cliff, followed by three years of straight-line vesting, with 26% allocated to the team and 24% to investors.
Lighter Distributes 25% of LIT at Launch, Sparking Tokenomics Debate
As part of the launch, Lighter confirmed that it had already distributed half of the ecosystem allocation, equivalent to 25% of total supply, via an airdrop tied to the first two points seasons, running through all of 2025.
These programs generated 12.5 million points that were converted into LIT and distributed at launch. The remaining 25% of ecosystem tokens will be reserved for future incentive campaigns, partnerships, and broader growth efforts.
In a statement posted On X, Lighter said that all value generated by the LIT DEX and future services will accrue to token holders.
The company said it operates from the US through a C-Corp structure, with revenue from trading and other products visible up the chain and allocated to growth initiatives and token buybacks depending on market conditions.
The announcement immediately divided sentiment, with some users praising the transparency around revenue acquisition and allocation, describing the structure as clean and clearly defined.
Others were more important, focusing on the size of insider allocations and questioning whether a DeFi-native protocol would need to allocate half of the supply to the team and investors, even under long-term lockups.
Several reports called the division excessive, while others argued that building large-scale derivatives infrastructure requires substantial capital and long-term support.
Questions also emerged about Lighter’s previous fundraising, as the protocol raised $68 million after launching its public mainnet, and some community members questioned how that translated into an investor allocation of 24%.
Independent calculations circulate on X suggested the implied average fully diluted valuation for the raise was closer to $272 million, rather than the $1.5 billion notional figure referenced in later rounds, fueling further discussion about pricing and dilution.
Lighter climbs the ranks of perpetrators as the debate swirls
The controversy comes as Lighter continues to post strong trading statistics.
Data from DeFiLlama shows the platform incorporated approximately $4.3 billion in perpetual 24-hour volume, placing it second only to Hyperliquid on a daily basis.
Additionally, Lighter led all offender locations in the chain in 30-day volume with approximately $201 billion, surpassing both Hyperliquid and Aster.
Open interest is around $1.45 billion and remains lower than some competitors, indicating faster position turnover rather than long duration.
Market data shows that this pattern is persistent rather than driven by incentives, as Lighter is also near the top in seven-day volume, reinforcing its position as a high-throughput platform favored by active traders.
Broader derivatives market conditions provide context for the launch, with on-chain perpetual futures volumes set to exceed $1 trillion on a monthly basis by 2025.
Crypto derivatives trading accelerated sharply in 2025 as traders increasingly focused on onchain perpetual futures.#Crypto #Derivativeshttps://t.co/NRfJCBERpc
— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) December 30, 2025
Decentralized locations accounted for a growing share of that activity, with platforms like Hyperliquid, Aster and Lighter emerging as dominant players.
Against that backdrop, the reactions to LIT also played out in trading behavior, with Blockchain analytics accounts being flagged for large leveraged short positions opened shortly after the tokenomics announcement.
While Lighter showed a long dormant whale address, contributing to a significant long position despite unrealized losses.
The post Lighter’s LIT Tokenomics Split DeFi Community: Fair Launch or Insider Heist? appeared first on Cryptonieuws.
