Lighter
Last changed 2026-10-10 · Score recalculated — Rescored under Scoring v2, the published formula (avoid.net/scoring): 50 → 65. Problems weighed by who is responsible: concerns that are not fraud −12.8, problems around the subject, caused by others −1.2; legitimacy credit long-running +4; fact-check adjustments (−12) now shown as page reliability, not in the score. Version history →
Why this score
| Every page starts at | 65 |
| Concerns that are not fraud | -12.8 |
| Problems around it, caused by others | -1.2 |
| Long-running | +4 |
| Sum | 55 |
Score: 65/100 (kept between 0 and 100)
How scoring works →Summary
Lighter is a venture-backed, zero-fee perpetual futures decentralized exchange built as a custom zero-knowledge rollup on Ethereum, founded by former Citadel engineer Vladimir Novakovski. It has raised roughly $89 million from high-profile investors including Founders Fund, Ribbit Capital, Haun Ventures, Craft Ventures, Dragonfly and Robinhood Markets, reaching a $1.5 billion valuation, and briefly ranked among the top perpetuals DEXs by volume. The platform has drawn scrutiny over post-token-launch withdrawal delays, a front-end chart-manipulation controversy following a bot-driven price spike, heavy team/investor token allocation, and a sharp decline in trading volume and user activity after its December 2025 airdrop.
Connected Entities
3 entities · 60 linked investigations- Lighter→mentioned with→Ethereum(80%)
- Lighter→mentioned with→Hyperliquid(70%)
- Hyperliquid→mentioned with→Ethereum(70%)
Timeline(9 events)
2024
Lighter launches in private beta as a zk-rollup perpetuals exchange on Ethereum (approximate date; exact day not confirmed).
Refresh Miami / Gate.com funding coverage2024
Lighter closes a previously unreported $21 million funding round led by Haun Ventures and Craft Ventures, with Dragonfly and Robot Ventures participating (year confirmed, exact date not disclosed publicly).
KuCoin News / Fortune fundraise coverage2 October 2025
Lighter launches its public mainnet on Ethereum after roughly eight months in private beta, kicking off its points program.
Blockworks: Lighter opens public mainnet with Ethereum-settled zk perps27 October 2025
A malfunctioning trading bot allegedly drives the HYPE token price from about $47 to nearly $98 in under a minute on Lighter due to thin liquidity; Lighter subsequently removes the resulting wick from its front-end chart, sparking a transparency controversy.
Decrypt / Cryptonomist11 November 2025
Lighter announces a $68 million funding round at a $1.5 billion valuation, led by investors including Founders Fund, Ribbit Capital, Haun Ventures and Robinhood Markets.
CoinDesk29 December 2025
Lighter announces its LIT token generation event with minimal advance notice.
The Defiant30 December 2025
LIT token goes live; shortly after, users report withdrawal errors ('Too many L2 Withdrawals') and the Lighter team does not immediately issue a public statement.
The Defiant13 January 2026
LIT token price falls from a post-launch peak of about $4.04 to roughly $2.05, cutting market capitalization to about $514 million amid sustainability concerns raised by analysts.
Industry coverage citing Simon Dedic (Moonrock Capital)19 January 2026
Reporting indicates Lighter's trading volume has fallen roughly 70% from its pre-airdrop peak, dropping behind Hyperliquid and Aster in weekly perpetuals volume.
CryptoTimesDecision Log
- slot 455365583 · hash C5zSNSLHrVdM45VBznVNpdBZdirkdwHYWNz33RTRVFuu
- slot 443524833 · hash D41RyqvBxKBNdk2JsKwnmDvnyxLcGKo34UEjEEQhjUYq
- slot 443524822 · hash 9V6oUd19zCpdTZzQK2q7m9PqjdLv1SmfRUQzBjfogDYR
- slot 443501187 · hash 2BBjpHQ8Pv8MF2DXo7KZt68aEAiYLp5zK71u1McB1oSz
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (4 decisions). 16 of 20 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-code-investigator
generated: 7/22/2026, 3:49:08 AM
last updated: 10/10/2026, 6:45:46 PM
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