Lighter's LIT token surged over 13% in 24 hours, propelled by a significant increase in perpetual futures trading volume on its decentralized exchange. The Lighter network recorded a new daily high in perp volume for the year at $7.53 billion, positioning it among the top four platforms in this sector, trailing only Hyperliquid (HYPE) and Aster (ASTER). According to DefiLlama, perp volume on Lighter grew by more than 34% over the past week.
Despite the price rally, the token's price action remained relatively stagnant on a wider timeframe, bouncing between $1.40 and $2.04 over the past month. Analysis of the 4-hour chart showed LIT flipping above the SuperTrend indicator, suggesting bullish momentum, while the Accumulation/Distribution indicator revealed that approximately 94.88 million LIT were being distributed, indicating selling pressure.
A clear divide in market sentiment emerged between retail traders and whales. Retail traders were actively buying, with long orders on Uniswap reaching around $800. In contrast, on-chain data from Onchain Lens showed whales continuing to open short positions. One notable whale was reportedly sitting on a $1.59 million profit from a leveraged LIT trade, maintaining a bearish bias despite the day's gains. Analysts suggest that for a sustained uptrend, LIT needs to break above key resistance levels at $1.805 and $2.041; otherwise, consolidation in bearish territory may continue.
This activity on Lighter is part of a broader industry trend. Data from Artemis shows that aggregate perpetual futures trading volume across the crypto market has exploded by nearly 400% over the past 365 days, with daily volumes now regularly hitting $40–60 billion. This growth is broad-based, spanning both centralized and decentralized venues like dYdX v4, GMX, Aevo, and Jupiter, signaling a fundamental shift where perps are becoming the dominant instrument for price discovery and risk transfer.
