Лидерство Lighter в аирдропах: $675 млн перевернули правила игры в криптоиндустрии Lighters Leadership in Airdrops: $675 Million Reshapes the Rules of the Crypto Industry

Perp-DEX Lighter has conducted an airdrop of LIT tokens worth a total of $675 million. This event has secured a place among the top ten asset distributions in the history of the cryptocurrency industry, according to CoinGecko.

In terms of dollar value, Lighter’s airdrop surpassed that of 1inch ($671 million) to rank tenth overall. Uniswap remains the undisputed leader, having distributed tokens valued at $6.43 billion in 2020.

The majority of recipients have chosen not to sell their coins. Analyst Arndxt noted that 75% of users retained their assets while 7% opted to purchase additional tokens on the open market.

However, some investors have raised concerns regarding the project’s tokenomics. Half of the total LIT issuance is reserved for the team and investors, with a one-year lock-up period followed by a multi-year vesting schedule.

Market participants have deemed this allocation excessively high for a DeFi protocol. Some have compared this model to that of competitor Hyperliquid.

As of the time of writing, LIT is trading at $2.66 (-18.1% in the last 24 hours). The asset’s market capitalization stands at $692.9 million, according to CoinGecko.

Crypto investor Casa warned that purchases at current levels may only be profitable in the short term.

For sustainable long-term growth, the project will need a significant increase in trading volumes and user retention.

The Lighter token distribution occurred amid explosive growth in the perp-DEX market. By the end of 2025, the total trading volume in the sector reached $12.09 trillion, up from $4.1 trillion at the start of the year.

In 2025 alone, $7.9 trillion, or 65% of the historical trading volume for such platforms, was recorded.

The peak activity occurred in the second half of the year. While the first six months saw a volume of $2.1 trillion, the second half saw it rise to $5.74 trillion (73% of the annual turnover). Since October, monthly volumes consistently surpassed $1 trillion. The fourth quarter outperformed the entirety of the first half.

Rising liquidity and improved order execution have transformed perp-DEX from alternative venues into primary destinations for margin trading.

The sector started to form back in 2021 with the emergence of dYdX and Perpetual Protocol but gained significant momentum in 2023 following the launch of Hyperliquid.

In the first half of 2025, Hyperliquid dominated the market with monthly volumes ranging from $175 billion to $248 billion. Competitors, including Aster and Lighter, lagged significantly during this period.

However, the situation shifted in mid-year. Lighter increased its monthly volumes from less than $50 billion to over $100 billion by the third quarter. Aster showcased explosive growth at the end of the year, reaching $259 billion in October and November.

Statistics indicate a transformation in the market: the sector has shifted from the dominance of a single platform to a competitive ecosystem with multiple major players.

Recall that in October, Lighter launched its main network based on Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). In December, the platform added support for spot trading.