Lighter, certainly one of the fastest-growing perpetual decentralized exchanges (DEXs), received mixed reactions from the decentralized finance (DeFi) community after revealing the tokenomics of its recent Lighter Infrastructure Token (LIT).
According to its structure, 50% of LIT's offering is reserved for the ecosystem, while the remaining 50% is allocated to the team and investors, with a one-year cut and a multi-year lock-up schedule.
As a part of the launch, Lighter said it had already distributed 25% of LIT's total supply via an airdrop related to the primary two points seasons, which ran through 2025.
The program earned 12.5 million points, which were converted into LIT and distributed to eligible users upon launch. The other 25% of the ecosystem allocation is reserved for future points, seasons, partnerships and growth incentives.
“The team and investors all have a one-year unlock period and a three-year linear lock-up period thereafter,” Lighter wrote. “The split is 26% team, 24% investor.”
The protocol’s decision to separate token allocation evenly between the ecosystem and insiders sparked mixed reactions on social media. Some praised the transparency, while others called the move “wild.”
Top five perpetual DEXs by 30-day volume. Source: DefiLlama
Lighter is probably the greatest perpetual DEXs within the DeFi space. Data from DefiLlama shows that the platform recorded nearly $200 billion in perpetual securities trading volume over the past 30 days, outperforming competitors corresponding to Hyperliquid and Aster.
Social media division clashes with whale positioning
Reactions to LIT's tokenomics were up within the crypto community
Community members complain about LIT tokenomics. Source: X
Others pushed back against what they called knee-jerk “FUD,” arguing that major infrastructure just isn’t built without meaningful investor support and that the long lock-up periods reduce immediate downside risk.
Another community member described the tokenomics structure as “clean,” adding that it has a powerful give attention to the community and that the token has utility.
Sentiment aside, the visible positioning of major traders also suggested a split. Blockchain analytics account Onchain Lens reported several whales opening leveraged short positions on LIT and betting thousands and thousands against the token shortly after the announcement.
At the identical time, the corporate reported a whale address that had been inactive for over a 12 months and added a sizeable long position despite staggering losses. This indicated a belief in the long run of the token quite than short-term speculation.
Polymarket players bet over $70 million on LIT's first FDV
Speculation in regards to the launch of LIT quickly spread beyond social media and on-chain trading venues to the Polymarket prediction market.
On the platform, traders bet over $70 million on where LIT's fully diluted valuation (FDV) would land a day after launch.
The market assumed that LIT would almost actually exceed a minimum of $1 billion FDV, while confidence fell above $2-3 billion.
Polymarket players wagered over $70 million on LIT FDV. Source: Polymarket
At the time of writing, CoinGecko data shows that the LIT token has an FDV of $2.8 billion and a market cap of roughly $700 million.
