Lighter has grown quickly, overtaking its main rivals and changing into Ethereum’s prime app chain and sixth largest Layer 2 by Whole Worth Locked (TVL).
This fast rise makes Lighter a real chief amongst decentralized perpetual buying and selling platforms.
Lighter DEX’s spectacular debut and fast development
DEX only recently jumped onto the L2Beat leaderboard and have become the sixth largest Layer 2 by TVS. It is usually the main app chain on Ethereum in document time.

Lighter DEX metrics. Supply: L2Beat
The emergence of writers handed as hyperliquid with Ethereum-grade possession has reignited the talk over whether or not Ethereum can lastly host a very aggressive perpetual DEX (PerpDEX) with out sacrificing safety or scalability.
In line with Bankless founder Ryan Adams, Lighter’s debut was spectacular. Adams cited the mix of zero token issuance prices, Ethereum-grade safety, and infinite scalability.
Spectacular debut on L2Beat by @Lighter_xyz.
Lighter is a hyperliquid trade with Ethereum grade possession.
It’s already the sixth largest L2 on TVL and the #1 app chain L2 on Ethereum.
benefit:
– No token issuance value
– Ethereum grade safety
– Infinitely… pic.twitter.com/yVXOjhhS1Y— RYAN SΞAN ADAMS – rsa.eth 🦄 (@RyanSAdams) October 8, 2025
This mission is rising because the standard-bearer for the subsequent technology of Ethereum app chains. These include customized zk-based rollups that keep Ethereum’s core rules whereas extending efficiency akin to specialised ecosystems like Solana and Cosmos.
“Being L1 is a bug, not a characteristic… L1 is simply Ethereum L2 with none of the safety and verifiability elements,” Adams stated, quoting Reiter founder Vladimir Nowakovsky.
This philosophy resonated with Ethereum maximalists. Many see Reiter as proof {that a} native, high-performing derivatives trade can stay on Ethereum, the final lacking piece in DeFi.
Hovering capital, hovering belief
In line with knowledge shared by analyst Eugene Brutime, Reiter LLP has overtaken HyperLiquid HLP over the previous week.
“LLP grew by $150 million and exceeded $400 million in TVL,” he stated. “Some hyperliquid LPs are transferring USDC to writers for a easy cause: yield,” the analyst stated.

Comparability of Hyperliquid LLP and Lighter LLP. Supply: X’s Bulltime
In the meantime, Author’s yield is 8x that of HyperLiquid (56% vs. 7%), and new deposits are capped at 25% to keep up stability. Even beneath these limitations, the efficient yield stays twice as excessive.
In line with analysts, this development is prone to proceed. He predicts the LLP might attain $600 million to $800 million in a base case.
This inflow means that merchants are reconsidering their allegiances within the PerpDEX house. This can be a uncommon signal that capital is returning to Ethereum after years of fragmentation between layer 1s.
In opposition to this backdrop, there’s a sentiment that Ethereum, regardless of being the birthplace of all DeFi primitives, lacked PerpDEX. Whoever solves this drawback will turn out to be one of many greatest gamers in Web3 general.
“Lightweighting is the closest we will get to attaining this,” Eugene declared.
Earlier rivals reminiscent of dYdX and Synthetix have struggled with scalability and governance points, resulting in their migration away from Ethereum.
Nevertheless, Lighter claims to have cracked the code utilizing a customized zk circuit and a brand new knowledge view format. This permits it to function as a local zk L2 with direct interoperability with Ethereum.
Safety and transparency questions
In line with an L2Beat evaluate, Lighter employs ZK proofs that forestall validators from approving invalid withdrawals. Customers may pressure transactions by Ethereum L1, guaranteeing censorship resistance, an vital improve for decentralized exchanges.
Nevertheless, L2Beat researcher Donnoh on X warned that the mission’s zk program shouldn’t be but open supply and its Oracle certification nonetheless must be strengthened. The crew guarantees to handle each in future updates.
I simply completed reviewing the mission, so this is a brief thread about @Lighter_xyz 🧵 https://t.co/NmlA8jGMVi pic.twitter.com/9yHwt4sLqm
— donnoh.eth 💗 (@donnoh_eth) October 8, 2025
In the meantime, the explosive entry of writers displays a broader sample seen with Ripple’s RLUSD, with Ethereum capturing many of the development reasonably than the unique community.
In the identical manner that RLUSD’s $789 million market cap highlighted the gravitational pull of Ethereum to stablecoins, Leiter’s momentum might mirror DeFi’s dominance as the final word fee layer.
If early indicators are right, lighters might turn out to be extra than simply hyperliquid. That is Ethereum’s long-awaited reply to the PerpDEX drawback, and it might be the mission that turns the app chain into the ecosystem’s subsequent defining story.
The put up Why Writers Can Reply Ethereum’s PerpDEX Issues first appeared on BeInCrypto.