Lighter, a decentralized perpetual exchange (Perp DEX) platform, has reached a notable milestone by passing $1 billion in Total Value Locked (TVL). This accomplishment coincides with the broader decentralized finance (DeFi) derivatives sector reaching a new high.
In September, Perp DEXs had a combined monthly trading volume of over $1 trillion, marking it the first time the sector reaching this level. Lighter celebrated the milestone while sharing an X post, highlighting how the project has grown over the past year from testnet to this milestone with no-fee trading incentives.
According to data by DeFiLlama, since its launch in April 2025, Lighter has experienced a substantial surge in its TVL, reaching $1 billion in six months. Over the past 30 days, its perpetual trading volume (Prep) totaled $170.12 billion, with $8.32 billion traded in the last 24 hours alone.
Lighter’s growth indicates a rising popularity of decentralized derivatives platforms. Perp DEXs let traders buy and sell on-chain derivatives without having to go through centralized intermediaries. This makes the process more open and safe while allowing traders to keep their assets in their own custody.
Lighter vs. Aster vs. Hyperliquid
Aster and Hyperliquid are two additional Layer-2 perpetual DEXs that are significantly competing with Lighter. After merging with Astherus in December 2024, ApolloX changed its name to Aster and launched on BNB Chain on September 17, 2025. Within the first 24 hours of the launch of its native token on the BNB Chain, it had a trading volume of $345 million, its Total Value Locked (TVL) rose above $1 billion, and it gained 330,000 new users, which shows that the market reacted well at first.
Hyperliquid was launched in November 2024 with an airdrop that gave its HYPE tokens to more than 90,000 traders. Patrick Scott, an analyst, recently pointed out how Hyperliquid is still the leader in the perpetual DEX market.
Even though trading volume dropped for a short time because of Aster’s rise, Scott stressed Hyperliquid’s strong fundamentals, ability to keep users, and plans for growth as the main reasons why it will continue to lead. He said that Hyperliquid has 62% of the market’s open interest and a business model that makes money, which sets it apart from many other crypto projects that lose money.
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