Lighter has overtaken Hyperliquid as the on-chain perpetuals volume leader over the past 30 days, marking a notable shift in a tightly contested derivatives market ahead of 2026.
DeFiLlama data shows Lighter processed about $198 billion in 30-day perpetuals volume, surpassing Hyperliquid’s roughly $166 billion. Aster also edged ahead of Hyperliquid with around $174 billion in the same period. Collectively, activity across major on-chain perps platforms has swelled — industry-wide perpetuals volume recently approached $972 billion, underscoring rapid market growth.
Why Lighter surged
- The rollout of Lighter’s LIT token — including a 25% community airdrop — was a major catalyst, driving speculative interest and reward-driven trading. Polymarket markets tied to LIT pulled in more than $74 million in volume soon after launch.
- Lighter’s fee design has been attractive to high-frequency traders and liquidity-seeking participants: removing taker fees for most users helped boost activity and liquidity.
- The platform’s total value locked climbed sharply from under $200 million in August to $1.43 billion at the time of publication, while annualized protocol fees are estimated at about $105 million.
Momentum beyond flash spikes
Throughout 2025, Lighter repeatedly flipped Hyperliquid on shorter windows, swapping 24-hour volume leadership multiple times across September–December. That Lighter now leads on a 30-day basis suggests its growth is more sustained than earlier, short-lived bursts.
Where Hyperliquid still dominates
Despite losing the 30-day perps lead, Hyperliquid remains strong across several key metrics:
- Open interest: $7.3 billion on Hyperliquid vs $1.4 billion on Lighter.
- Spot trading volume (30 days): $4.8 billion for Hyperliquid vs $3.59 billion for Lighter.
- Revenue: Hyperliquid’s annualized fees are estimated around $820 million, significantly higher than Lighter’s current take.
Outlook and risks
Analysts say Lighter’s Ethereum-native composability, push into spot markets, and plans for real-world asset (RWA) integrations are structural advantages that could sustain growth. Still, the derivatives market is widely viewed as winner-take-most: liquidity and fee economics tend to concentrate volume and revenue, so competition will remain fierce and risk for smaller or late-stage challengers persists.
Bottom line: Lighter’s token-led growth and fee incentives have propelled it into the perps volume lead over a 30-day window, but Hyperliquid’s deeper open interest and superior revenue generation keep it a formidable incumbent as the on-chain derivatives race heats up.
Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news
