This is a guide on how to buy LIT token from Lighter. Lighter is a Perp DEX, built as an Ethereum L2. Perp DEX or Perpetual futures DEX (decentralized exchange) have always been popular in crypto, from the early days of Bitmex introducing the idea of a perpetual futures product going through cycles from dydx to GMX to Hyperliquid to Lighter.
Lighter today is second only to Hyperliquid in terms of Open Interest (OI). Lighter usually has a higher volume than Hyperliquid because of two main reasons:
- Lighter is a 0 fee exchange (basic account tier at least, there is a paid premium version as well), so there is no fees to trade other than slippage.
- Lighter was heavily farmed by many crypto traders.
However, lighter has a big advantage of having been built as an Ethereum L2 so it inherits the security features of Ethereum. While it isn’t a fully fledged L2 in the sense of being able to deploy arbitrary apps on it, it is nevertheless secured by zkEVM and every lighter order and transaction is on the blockchain and secured by Ethereum.
How to Buy LIT token from Lighter
LIT token from lighter was just airdropped to all of the users of the Lighter exchange today, with a token launch date of December 30, 2025, just before the end of the year. Initially, the LIT token is only tradeable on the lighter exchange. Make sure to go to the Spot exchange and not Perp exchange if you want to buy LIT token on lighter. This is because lighter hasn’t launched a LIT Perp yet. As of today, lighter is the only place you can buy LIT token on.
Other ways to buy LIT token (perpetual futures exposure)
Several exchanges have listed the LIT token as perp, i.e. the LIT perpetual future contract. You can buy LIT from the following perp exchanges. An added advantage is that you can take on leverage unlike spot on lighter exchange. This means you can get magnified exposure to the LIT token, magnifying your gains (and also your losses). Be aware of funding rates and how they work.
- Hyperliquid – If you need a permissionless way to buy or trade LIT, then Hyperliquid is your best option. It has the deepest orderbooks, least slippage, and highest volume. There is no KYC required. You can transfer USDC from Arbitrum or another network straight into hyperliquid. If you’re not on an EVM, you can first transfer USDC via LayerZero to HyperEVM and then transfer USDC from HyperEVM to Hyperliquid inside the app.
- Pacifica – Pacifica is a solana based perp DEX, so if you’re in the Solana ecosystem, Pacifica is a great option. The added advantage of trading on pacifia is that it doesn’t have a token yet, so you are also farming for Pacifica points and thus the pacifica token when it launches. Good option if you’re doing lower volumes and also want to get the pacifica token airdrop. Fun fact about Pacifica – the CEO of pacifica is the former COO of FTX, Constance Wang.
- Binance – If you’re in the CEX world, then Binance is one of the best options to buy LIT token perp future. It has the best order depth and volume, and there are a ton of retail traders that use Binance. You’ll need to do KYC to create an account though if you don’t already have it. Once you do, there are many other pairs you can trade as well. You can fund your account via a bank account or other crypto. Their spot trading is also really tight, so if you have any random crypto token, just send it to their spot exchange, convert to USDT, send to the Binance perp exchange and trade LIT token.
These are the ways to buy LIT token from Lighter as of today. Are there any other ways to gain exposure to LIT that you’re aware of? Let us know in the comments.