Hyperliquid Rival ’Lighter’ Ignites Frenzy with Revolutionary Airdrop Points Trading

Move over Hyperliquid—Lighter's shaking up the perpetuals game with a twist that's got traders buzzing. The platform's new airdrop points trading feature lets users speculate on future token distributions before they even hit the market.

Gamifying the grind

Lighter's system converts trading activity into transferable points that represent potential airdrop value. Traders can accumulate, swap, or even short these points—creating a secondary market for unclaimed rewards. It's like trading futures on your own farming efforts.

The frenzy goes mainstream

Volume's surging as degens and institutions alike pile into what might be DeFi's next big liquidity play. Some call it innovative; others call it glorified speculation with extra steps. Either way, it's pulling liquidity from established players and proving that in crypto, even the promise of free tokens can become a tradeable asset.

Because why wait for an airdrop when you can trade the maybe-right-now? Just another day in finance where the derivative of a derivative somehow becomes the main event.

Lighter’s greater potential

Reacting to ‘pre-airdrop’ pricing for Lighter points, an X user YashasEdu, pointed out that $33 for each point is way lower than its potential. The user also noted that Lighter is targeting a $2-4 billion fully Diluted Valuation (FDV) and it puts each point priced at $40 to $150 range over standard tokenomics design. 

“Lighter’s positions itself at the center of these trends with tech & execution that addresses real market needs,” YashasEdu said. “Current OTC pricing seems disconnected from underlying fundamentals & comparable project valuations.”

Recalling the Hyperliquid airdrop, the user noted that its points traded in a range of $15 to $25 on OTC markets but the protocol achieved significantly higher valuations after launch and early sellers missed upside. 

New competitor to Hyperliquid

While Hyperliquid is setting a trend for a decentralized trading ecosystem, Lighter is emerging as its closest competitor with over $440 million in total value locked (TVL) and an average of $1 billion in daily trading volume. Both the perpetual DEXs share similar functionalities. 

Hyperliquid employs a two-layer design with synchronized data sharing between HyperCore and HyperEVM, achieving decentralized trading speeds comparable to centralized exchanges. In contrast, Lighter leverages a proprietary zk-rollup (zkLighter) with a centralized limit order book (CLOB), delivering an impressive 5ms soft finality, enhancing trade execution speed and efficiency. 

Additionally, Lighter introduces capital composability through LLP positions usable as margin, a feature absent in Hyperliquid. It also optimizes yield and trading flexibility on Ethereum’s secure foundation. 

Given the first-mover advantage, Hyperliquid is currently positioned first among all decentralized trading platforms. If Lighter continues to gain traction, it might face stiff competition from Hyperliquid as prominent features of decentralized perpetual trading keep attracting a wider user base. 

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