Until recently, most developers viewed the Ethereum mainnet as an unscalable but irresistibly attractive layer, where it was impossible to launch a permanent functional DEX. Ethereum has it all. It is the second most valuable network after Bitcoin and the first smart contract platform. After dYdX, there was no other major live trading on Ethereum until Lighter took over from Q3 2025.
The easiest thing is to move the numbers; Large numbers are taking over the best centralized exchanges, and soon Binance. As of October 9, Lighter had a trading volume of over $8.5 billion within 24 hours. On this platform, traders place leveraged positions. Cumulatively, there is over $2.2 billion in open interest placed on 91 different pairs, some of which enable the trading of certain currencies. Best cryptocurrencies to buy.
(source: Koenjiku)
As expected, more than 50% of the total trading volume is associated with Bitcoin, while 20% is from the ETH USDC pair. Although the BNB cryptocurrency is the third most valuable cryptocurrency at writing, traders make more HYPE and SOL trades than BNB.
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What makes the DEX lighter so attractive?
If you are any other retail trader, the first thing you want to know is the fees charged when looking for gains, even from… Top coins meme solana.
On Binance, placing a market order means paying a total fee of 0.08%: 0.04% for opening and another 0.04% for closing. This charge is outrageously high.
Binance charges very high fees for futures trading, so you have to set limits for small investors. For example, people who trade more than $500, you can charge a maximum of $1.5, and for large investors with less than $500, you can fix the fee accordingly. This is too much.
Purchase fees Selling fees pic.twitter.com/lVnEtqVcgf— Cryptozap (@CrazyCryptozap) August 21, 2025
When placing a BTC USDT position on the platform, assuming a modest 50X leverage, the trade will only break even if the price of Bitcoin rises by at least $90. For speculators, this is a big drawback.
Lighter DEX changes this. Retailers don’t have to pay a dime. It is free to place a market or limit order. What’s more? Although Lighter DEX is completely unblocked, critics may have complained about technical hurdles and scaling concerns.
To solve this problem and ensure that transactions are always processed as quickly as they are on Binance, Bybit, or Coinbase, Lighter processes tens of thousands of orders and cancellations every second with sub-millisecond latency.
The superior transaction processing throughput is thanks to Lighter’s use of zero-knowledge infrastructure, which handles thousands of operations efficiently without compromising decentralization.
Lighter aggregates and settles all orders on the Ethereum mainnet, effectively preserving the Ethereum ecosystem while avoiding liquidity fragmentation.
Indeed, according to L2Beat, Lighter has a TVL value of more than $1.1 billion, roughly a 2000X increase from late March 2025.
(source: L2Beat)
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Is the lighter the missing link in Ethereum?
Given the rapid growth of Lighter and the DEX, which proves that it is possible to build a durable, highly scalable, secure DEX that relies on the Ethereum mainnet for security, analysts are optimistic and now believe that the first smart contract platform is complete.
In a post on With Lighter attracting billions in trading volume, the observer is convinced that the platform is the “ultimate DeFi primitive” that will turn Ethereum into a “full-fledged financial platform” that will finally replace the global financial ecosystem.
The lighter is the missing link in the Ethereum DeFi Eco
Ethereum is the engine of innovation in the DeFi space, having developed the biggest DeFi fundamentals that everyone knows today.
Other networks simply copy these primitives.
But Ethereum has one obvious problem:… pic.twitter.com/PRWBmsyoiJ
– Eugene Bulltime (@Eugene_Bulltime) October 8, 2025
He continued that it is the stock exchange and its lighter trading engine that will enable building a thriving ecosystem. Unlike Hyperliquid, which is also popular but charges fees, Lighter will rely on an already developed ecosystem that includes protocols that already manage billions.
Another said Lighter is an improvement to Hyperliquid as the DEX integrates Ethereum-class royalties and is infinitely scalable thanks to the use of zero knowledge.
Impressive appeared first on L2Beat by @Lighter_xyz.
Lighter is a PERP – Hyperliquid exchange with Ethereum-class royalties.
It is already TVL’s 6th largest L2 blockchain and the #1 L2 application chain on Ethereum.
Advantages:
– There are no nominal issuance costs
– Ethereum level security
-Without limits… pic.twitter.com/yVXOjhhS1Y– Ryan Shan Adams – rsa.eth
(@ryansadams) October 8, 2025
The observer added that Lighter’s success is “bullish for Ethereum application chains.”
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Lighter TVL Increases by 2000X in 6 Months: The Missing Link in Ethereum?
- Ethereum is the source of all DeFi fundamentals
- The first smart contract platform missed a large-scale perpetual DEX
- Lighter TVL up to 2000X as of late March 2025
- Is Lighter the missing link in Ethereum?
The post Lighter TVL Up 2000X in 6 Months: Is This Perp DEX the Missing Link in Ethereum? appeared first on 99Bitcoins.