TL;DR
- Lighter carried out a $675 million airdrop in LIT and ranked tenth in crypto history, surpassing 1inch and trailing LooksRare.
- The DEX distributed the tokens to early users and showed strong retention: only $30 million left the protocol and 75% of recipients held their tokens.
- The tokenomics allocate 50% to the ecosystem and 50% to the team and investors, raising questions about balance.
Lighter executed a $675 million airdrop in LIT tokens and entered the top 10 largest events in crypto history by dollar value. Data from Bubblemaps and CoinGecko place it in tenth position, above the 1inch Network airdrop and below LooksRare’s. Uniswap retains the top spot, with $6.43 billion distributed in 2020.
$LIT just went live
• $675M airdropped to early participants
• $30M withdrawn from Lighter (only)gud tech pic.twitter.com/WeszphP8G1
— Bubblemaps (@bubblemaps) December 30, 2025
Users Show Strong Retention
The project is a decentralized exchange focused on perpetual futures. It distributed the tokens to the protocol’s early users. According to Bubblemaps, of the total amount distributed, around $30 million was withdrawn directly from Lighter, a relatively small figure compared to the overall volume. This data point is critical, as it highlights the high level of token retention among users.
The day after the airdrop, around 75% of recipients were still holding their LIT tokens. In addition, roughly 7% had purchased more tokens on the open market. This behavior is unusual for an airdrop of this magnitude, where immediate selling and quick profit-taking typically dominate. Some of these early users, such as the investor known by the pseudonym Didi, reported receiving six-figure allocations in dollar terms.
Concerns Over Lighter’s Distribution
However, the size of the airdrop did not go unnoticed by market critics. Lighter’s tokenomics sparked a broad debate within the community. The structure reserves 50% of the supply for the ecosystem and allocates the remaining 50% to the team and investors, with a one-year cliff and a multi-year vesting schedule. For part of the market, the share allocated to the team appears excessive for a DeFi protocol. Others point to similarities with the model adopted by Hyperliquid, one of its main competitors.
From a market perspective, the Lighter token (LIT) posted a market capitalization close to $678 million and is trading above $2.71, according to data from Nansen. The price reflects the initial impact of the airdrop. Some traders warn that, at these levels, the opportunity may be limited to short-term trades.
The airdrop put Lighter on the market’s radar and achieved strong initial retention. The next phase will depend on trading volume, real activity within the DEX, and the protocol’s ability to turn that massive distribution into active, recurring users. Without that, the airdrop’s impact will fade quickly
