Lighter, a leading perpetual decentralized exchange (perp DEX), is in the final stages of preparing for its highly anticipated token generation event (TGE) and airdrop. A core contributor known as Sebas (Babastianj) announced on the project's Discord that the team is finalizing key processes for Season 2 of its points program, specifically running data science to identify and remove Sybil, self-trading, and wash-trading points. All slashed points are planned to be redistributed to the legitimate community, aiming for a more equitable token distribution.
The airdrop speculation has been significantly amplified by a major market development: rival perp DEX Hyperliquid listed the yet-to-launch Lighter token (LIT) against USDC on Monday, December 23rd. This pre-market listing has fueled trading and valuation speculation, with an internal post from Lighter suggesting a pre-market price point of $4.1 for LIT.
Lighter launched an optional airdrop allocation form on Sunday, December 22nd, allowing eligible users to direct their tokens to up to four additional wallets. The form will accept submissions until Friday, December 27th. Users who do not submit will have their airdrop sent to their main Lighter account. The platform transferred 250 million LIT tokens (25% of the total supply) on Friday, December 20th, further signaling an imminent airdrop ahead of the expected TGE by December 31st.
Community anticipation is reflected on the prediction market Polymarket, where $9.5 million in volume is backing bets on the airdrop occurring by year-end, with at least 86% of traders predicting a "yes" outcome. This news follows Lighter's $68 million fundraising round in November, led by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund and Ribbit Capital, shortly after its public mainnet launch in October. Founded in 2022 by Vladimir Novakovski, Lighter is currently the second-largest perp DEX by volume, according to DefiLlama. In a further sign of institutional interest, Coinbase added LIT to its listing roadmap in mid-December.
