Author:Hotcoin Research I. Project Overview Lighter is an Ethereum-based zero-knowledge Rollup (zk-Rollup) perpetual contract exchange. It achieves verifiable order book matching and liquidation through custom ZK circuits, combining centralized exchange-level performance (millisecond latency, tens of thousands of TPS) with on-chain transparency. The protocol adopts a "zero-fee retail trading + institutional API fee" model and utilizes the LIT token for governance, fee discounts, and liquidity incentives. In November 2025, Lighter completed a $68 million Series A funding round co-led by Founders Fund and Ribbit Capital, with a valuation of approximately $1.5 billion. II. Market Opportunity On-chain derivatives penetration is <10%, but daily trading volume has exceeded $33.8 billion, indicating significant growth potential. Existing solutions face an "impossible triangle": General-purpose L2s (Arbitrum, OP) have fees and latency unsuitable for high-frequency order placement; Cosmos sidechains (dYdX v4, Hyperliquid) sacrifice Ethereum's security and composability; Hybrid order books (0x, StarkEx) rely on centralized matching, posing censorship and MEV risks. Lighter fills this market gap by achieving a unified "performance-security-verifiability" on Ethereum through an application-specific zk-Rollup. III. Product and Technical Architecture 3.1 Core Components Sequencer: Responsible for ordering, batching transactions, and publishing pre-commitments, ensuring millisecond-level feedback; Prover: Generates zk-SNARK proofs for matching, liquidation, and state transitions, verified on-chain; Smart Contracts: Custody funds, verify proofs, trigger emergency exits (Exit Hatch), fully non-custodial. 3.2 Innovations Order Book Tree: A patented binary prefix tree that encodes "price-time" priority into leaf indices, achieving Θ(log₂N) proof complexity, supporting batch matching and fast quoting; Verifiable Liquidation Engine: Three-tier margin system (initial / maintenance / liquidation) + insurance fund. The liquidation process is fully enforced by the circuit, eliminating human intervention; Exit Hatch: If the Sequencer censors or reorders transactions, users can directly submit a Merkle proof to the contract to trigger an emergency exit, with fund security relying solely on Ethereum. 3.3 Performance Metrics Matching latency < 5 ms, capable of batching 20,000 orders/cancellations per block; On-chain data compressed to < 200 B per transaction, transaction fees approaching zero; Supports 50+ perpetual markets, maximum leverage of 50×, using an exponential moving premium + funding rate mechanism to anchor spot prices. IV. Token Economics (LIT) 4.1 Total Supply and Allocation (Official Disclosure) Ecosystem Incentives: 41.4%, for trading mining, LP rewards, liquidity budget; Team & Advisors: 29.1%, linear vesting over 4 years, locked for 12 months post-TGE; Investors: 16.0%, Series A and seed rounds, vesting schedule aligned with team; Public Sale & Community Sale: 6.0%, scheduled for Q1 2026 on Binance Launchpool and the official website; Airdrop: 4.8%, incentivizing early users, testnet nodes, Ciphernaut mission participants; Foundation Reserve: 2.7%, for legal, audit, and strategic partnerships. 4.2 Token Utility Trading Fee Discount: Staking LIT offers up to a 50% discount; Governance: Modify risk parameters, list new markets through Snapshot + on-chain execution module; Liquidity Mining: Providing LLP (Lighter Liquidity Pool) shares earns LIT rewards; Insurance Fund Replenishment: In extreme cases, LIT is auctioned to cover liquidation shortfalls. 4.3 Circulation Schedule Initial Circulation: Public Sale 6% + Airdrop 4.8% ≈ 10.8% (approx. 108 million tokens); No team/investor unlocks for the first 12 months, linear monthly unlocks of 1/36 starting January 2027; Projected circulating supply: 25% by end of 2026, 70% by end of 2028, fully unlocked by 2030. V. Competitive Landscape The current on-chain perpetual contract space is a three-way race: Aster uses a Cosmos appchain, has issued a token, and through high incentives pushed daily volume to $4.8 billion, currently ranking first. However, it has only 21 validators, indicating a high degree of centralization; Hyperliquid is also based on Cosmos, with a single-node matching engine, daily volume around $3.1 billion, high community engagement. However, assets require cross-chain bridging, posing bridge risks; Lighter is still in the pre-token circulation phase, with daily volume of $2.3 billion. It is catching up rapidly with zero fees and Ethereum security guarantees, and is expected to narrow the gap post-TGE with liquidity mining incentives. VI. Team and Funding Vladimir Novakovski (CEO): Former CEO of an AI quantitative fund, managed $400 million in assets; CTO Murat Ekici is a former high-frequency systems architect at Jump Trading. Nov 2024 Seed Round: $12 million, led by Paradigm; Nov 2025 Series A: $68 million, co-led by Founders Fund + Ribbit Capital, with participation from Robinhood, Haun Ventures; total funding $80 million, valuation $1.5 billion. VII. Roadmap 2026 Q1: Mainnet launch + LIT TGE (Binance Launchpool), initiate trading mining; 2026 Q2: Launch mobile app, add 100+ perpetual markets, initiate DAO governance; 2026 Q4: Decentralize Sequencer (based on Timelock encryption + threshold signatures); 2027: Support spot, options, lending markets, cross-chain to Bitcoin, Solana. VIII. Risks Technical: ZK circuit complexity is extremely high, potential vulnerabilities could lead to incorrect matching or liquidation failures; Regulatory: Increasing CFTC scrutiny on on-chain derivatives in the US may affect user access; Competition: Aster/Hyperliquid have first-mover advantage with tokens and liquidity; Lighter needs rapid subsidization; Token: Small initial circulating supply leads to high price volatility; sell pressure needs monitoring during later unlock phases. IX. Conclusion Lighter is the first to achieve "verifiable order book + millisecond matching" on Ethereum through an application-specific zk-Rollup, balancing security, performance, and compliance transparency. Combined with zero fees, top-tier VC backing, and the yet-to-be-released token catalyst, it has the potential to become the next leader in on-chain derivatives. About Us Hotcoin Research, as the core investment research arm of Hotcoin Exchange, is dedicated to transforming professional analysis into your practical tool. We dissect market trends for you through "Weekly Insights" and "In-depth Research Reports". Leveraging our exclusive column "Hotcoin Select" (dual screening by AI + experts), we identify potential assets for you, reducing trial-and-error costs. Every week, our researchers also engage with you face-to-face through live streams, interpreting hot topics and forecasting trends. We believe that warm companionship and professional guidance can help more investors navigate cycles and seize Web3 value opportunities.

ChainCatcher news, according to Coinglass data, the current position of whales on the Hyperliquid platform is $5.425 billion, with long positions at $2.604 billion, accounting for 47.99% of the total, and short positions at $2.821 billion, accounting for 52.01%. The profit and loss for long positions is -$228 million, and for short positions is $293 million. Among them, the whale address 0xb317..ae opened a 5x full-position long on ETH at a price of $3,147.39, with an unrealized profit and loss of -$42.6391 million.

PANews reported on December 28th that Alex Smirnov, co-founder of deBridge, stated on the X platform that the Flow team has decided to roll back the blockchain and claims to be in a mandatory synchronization window with key ecosystem partners (bridges, centralized exchanges, and decentralized exchanges). As one of Flow's main bridging providers, deBridge has not received any communication or coordination from the Flow team, potentially posing a significant risk. Smirnov stated that the economic losses from a hasty rollback could far exceed the impact of the original attack, and the rollback will introduce systemic issues affecting bridges, custodians, users, and counterparties who acted honestly during the affected window. Smirnov urged all Flow validators to stop validating transactions on the rollback chain until a clear compensation plan, coordination with ecosystem partners, and intervention from the security team are in place. Currently, RPC responses indicate that the Flow state has been rolled back, but no new transactions have been accepted.

PANews reported on December 28 that, according to official website data, Binance Global's registered users have exceeded 300 million, currently reaching 302,428,187.

BlockBeats news, December 28, according to official website data, Binance's global registered user count has exceeded 300 million, reaching 302,428,187.Previously, Binance announced on January 2, 2025 that its global registered user count had exceeded 250 million, achieving a growth of 50 million users in nearly 12 months.

BlockBeats News, December 28, Alex Smirno, co-founder of deBridge, posted on X platform stating that the Flow team has decided to roll back the blockchain, claiming to be in a forced synchronization window with key ecosystem partners (bridges, centralized exchanges, decentralized exchanges). As one of Flow's main bridging providers, deBridge has not received any communication or coordination from the Flow team, which may pose significant risks. Alex Smirnov indicated that the economic losses caused by a hasty chain rollback could far exceed the impact of the original attack, as a rollback introduces systemic issues, affecting bridges, custodians, users, and counterparties who acted honestly during the affected window. Alex Smirnov urged all Flow validators to stop validating transactions on the rolled-back chain until a clear compensation plan, coordination with ecosystem partners, and involvement of security teams are established. Currently, RPC responses show that Flow's state has been rolled back, but it is not yet accepting new transactions.

PANews reported on December 28 that, according to an official announcement, Gate will launch PVPFun (PVP) spot trading on December 29 at 21:00 (UTC+8), and will also list PVPFun (PVP) on the FlashExchange platform at 22:00 (UTC+8).

PANews reported on December 28 that, according to Cointelegraph, Mirae Asset Group is in talks to acquire Korbit, South Korea's fourth-largest cryptocurrency exchange, with a valuation of approximately 100 billion to 140 billion won, or about 70 million to 100 million US dollars. The potential acquisition is reportedly being led by Mirae Asset Consulting, a non-financial subsidiary of Mirae Asset Group, which has already signed a memorandum of understanding with Korbit's major shareholders.

BlockBeats news, December 28, according to Cointelegraph, South Korean financial group Mirae Asset is in negotiations to acquire Korbit, the fourth-largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, with a transaction valuation of approximately 100 billion to 140 billion Korean won (around $70 million to $100 million). The report states that this potential acquisition will be led by Mirae Asset Consulting, a non-financial subsidiary of the Mirae Asset Group, which has already signed a memorandum of understanding with Korbit's major shareholders.Public information shows that Korbit is currently held by NXC and its subsidiary Simple Capital Futures with a combined stake of about 60.5%, while SK Square holds an additional approximately 31.5%. The report notes that Korbit holds full operational licenses and a compliance system, making it attractive to large financial groups looking to enter the digital asset space in a compliant manner.

BlockBeats news, December 28, according to Cointelegraph, South Korean financial group Mirae Asset is in negotiations to acquire Korbit, the fourth-largest cryptocurrency exchange platform in South Korea, with a transaction valuation of approximately 100 billion to 140 billion Korean won (about 70 million to 100 million US dollars). The report states that this potential acquisition will be led by Mirae Asset Consulting, a non-financial subsidiary of the Mirae Asset Group, which has already signed a memorandum of understanding with Korbit's major shareholders.Public information shows that Korbit is currently held by NXC and its subsidiary Simple Capital Futures with a combined stake of about 60.5%, while SK Square holds an additional approximately 31.5%. The report points out that Korbit holds full operational licenses and a compliance system, making it attractive to large financial groups looking to enter the digital asset field in a compliant manner.