Lighter, the decentralized perpetual exchange, saw roughly $250 million pulled from its platform within 24 hours of a massive token giveaway, on-chain data show.
Bubblemaps reported that about $250 million was withdrawn after Lighter airdropped $675 million worth of LIT tokens on Tuesday. The outflows were concentrated across two chains: roughly $201.9 million on Ethereum and about $52.2 million on Arbitrum, Bubblemaps said in an X post that asked whether “all the (yield) farmers were leaving?”
Bubblemaps CEO Nicolas Vaiman told CoinDesk these withdrawals amount to roughly 20% of Lighter’s total value locked (TVL), which DeFiLlama lists at about $1.4 billion. He framed the move as typical behavior after large airdrops: users often rebalance hedging positions, cash out, or redeploy capital to the next farming opportunity. Vaiman pointed to similar post-airdrop exoduses after token launches for Hyperliquid and Aster, and predicted the pattern will repeat with future launches such as PERP DEX, Paradex, and Extended.
Security researcher Natalie Newson of CertiK echoed that view to CoinDesk, noting that large withdrawals after token generation events (TGEs) are usually driven by airdrop farmers and early participants exiting positions. “This is seen beyond just Lighter,” she said, adding that opaque distribution mechanics can leave room for a few insiders to capture outsized gains shortly after launch.
Market metrics also reacted: LIT trading volume, which hovered between $8 billion and $15 billion in November, dropped to as low as $2 billion in recent days, according to DeFiLlama. The token’s price has followed suit, sliding roughly 23% from $3.37 on Dec. 30 to about $2.57.
In short: a sizable, swift outflow followed Lighter’s large airdrop—an outcome familiar in DeFi circles as participants quickly rebalance, harvest rewards, or chase the next yield opportunity, with short-term pressure on volume and price.
Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news
