Lighter – a Derivative DEX built on Ethereum layer-2 of the same name – said it has reached a valuation of $1.5 billion after its latest round of Capital from major funds.
Perp DEX Lighter Capital $68 Million at $1.5 Billion Valuation
According to Fortune , the decentralized trading platform and Ethereum layer-2 Lighter has successfully raised $68 million. The new round of Capital has given Lighter a valuation of up to $1.5 billion, with the participation of billionaire Peter Thiel 's Founders Fund, Ribbit Capital, Haun Ventures, and even online stock trading platform Robinhood - a name that is very rare to stand up to venture capital.
According to Fortune, Lighter has raised $68 million in a funding round led by Founders Fund and Ribbit Capital, with participation from Haun Ventures and Robinhood, valuing the company at $1.5 billion. Lighter is an Ethereum-based Layer 2 decentralized exchange and blockchain…
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) November 11, 2025
Lighter founder Vladimir Novakovski revealed a Capital round that included both DEX equity and Token rights, confirming Lighter’s upcoming launch of its own coin. He also revealed that Lighter will soon support Bitcoin Spot Trading , opening up another product category.
Lighter was only launched in January 2025 but has quickly achieved impressive results, with over 10 billion USD in daily volume and 1.1 billion USD TVL, making it the fourth most valuable layer-2 Ethereum in the market, behind only Arbitrum, Base and OP Mainnet.
Lighter's impressive stats. Source: @margaritalucidi1 on Dune Analytics (11/11/2025)
Over the past few months, the decentralized Derivative ( Perp DEX ) space has seen the rise of Hyperliquid , followed by similar solutions like Aster , EdgeX , and Lighter. Amid increased regulatory scrutiny of the crypto space by governments around the world, and scandals at some of the top CEX exchanges, Perp DEX platforms are emerging as an alternative, offering the same trading capabilities and services as CEXs, but at the same time eliminating the KYC element and providing more privacy to users.
According to statistics from The Block, Perp DEX exchanges in October 2025 reached a record volume of 1.2 trillion USD, with 308.5 billion USD coming from Hyperliquid, followed by Lighter with 272 billion USD, and Aster ranked third with 260 billion USD.
Statistics on volume of Perp DEX exchanges. Source: The Block (November 11, 2025)
However, this figure is still “insignificant” compared to Derivative trading activities on CEX exchanges. In October, the perp volume on leading traditional crypto exchanges reached 49 trillion USD, far exceeding the 14.8 trillion USD of Spot Trading.
Coin68 synthesis
