Ethereum-based Layer 2 decentralized exchange Lighter has launched its native cryptocurrency, the Lighter Infrastructure Token (LIT), as it looks to align traders, builders and backers while connecting traditional financial markets with decentralized finance.

LIT’s total supply is evenly split between the ecosystem and the team and investors. Fifty percent is allocated to ecosystem initiatives, including an immediate airdrop that converts 12.5 million points earned by early users in 2025 into LIT tokens. The airdrop accounts for 25% of the project’s fully diluted supply, with the remaining ecosystem allocation reserved for future incentives, partnerships and expansion.

The remaining 50% of the supply is allocated to the team (26%) and investors (24%), with those tokens subject to a one-year lockup followed by three years of linear vesting, Lighter said in a post on X. The token is issued directly by Lighter’s operating entity, which is registered as a U.S. C-corporation.

Lighter said the LIT token is designed to support infrastructure that enables value exchange across both traditional finance and DeFi, prioritizing efficiency, transparency and verifiability. The company said these attributes are essential for bringing real-world assets onchain while improving composability and auditability in traditional markets.

According to data from a Dune-based tracker, perpetuals traded on Lighter have averaged $2.7 billion in volume over the past seven days, ranking the platform third behind Hyperliquid and Aster. Hyperliquid’s HYPE token currently trades at a market capitalization of roughly $6.26 billion, making it the world’s 29th-largest digital asset.

LIT is positioned as more than a governance or incentive token. It underpins Lighter’s execution and data verification infrastructure, with users required to stake increasing amounts of LIT to access higher service tiers as the network decentralizes.

Users and data providers also pay fees in LIT to access market data and price verification services. Staking mechanisms are designed to help ensure data integrity and support risk management across the platform.

Lighter said revenue generated from its trading platform and future products will be fully transparent and verifiable onchain. The company may use that revenue to support ecosystem growth or to conduct token buybacks, depending on market conditions and long-term strategy, without committing to a fixed schedule.