Lighter dominates the top: daily trading volume of $9 billion, surpassing Hyperliquid to become the new king of Perp DEX

December 10th, the blockchain data platform DefiLlama shows that Lighter’s 24-hour trading volume reached approximately $8.83 billion, while Hyperliquid’s trading volume was about $8.52 billion, with Aster following closely at around $7.6 billion.

This marks a significant milestone following Lighter’s recent sustained strong performance. As early as mid to late November, its trading volume had already surpassed $9 billion, achieving a first-time overtaking of Hyperliquid.

01 Changing Landscape

The Perp DEX (perpetual contract decentralized exchange) sector experienced intense fluctuations in competition at the turn of the year. The long-standing leader Hyperliquid was overtaken by newcomer Lighter.

According to the latest data from December 10th, Lighter’s 24-hour trading volume was about $8.83 billion, while Hyperliquid’s was approximately $8.52 billion. Although the gap seems small, it signifies a change in market leadership.

This overtaking was not achieved overnight. Looking back to November 28th, data showed Lighter’s 24-hour trading volume reached about $9 billion, surpassing Hyperliquid for the first time.

The battle for the top spot is incredibly fierce. Just the day before (December 9th), data indicated Lighter’s trading volume was $8.22 billion, while Hyperliquid’s was $6.22 billion. Within a day, Hyperliquid’s trading volume rebounded sharply by over 30%, attempting to reclaim the throne.

02 Data Comparison

To understand Lighter’s surpassing, merely looking at trading volume is insufficient. Comparing core data from both platforms reveals they have taken very different development paths.

The table below compares Lighter and Hyperliquid across several key metrics:

The ratio of trading volume to TVL clearly reveals efficiency differences. Lighter supports a very high trading volume with a relatively low TVL, indicating significantly higher capital utilization efficiency compared to its competitor.

In contrast, although Hyperliquid has nearly three times the TVL and open interest contracts of Lighter, it has not been able to translate this capital advantage into absolute trading volume leadership.

03 Technical Drivers

Lighter’s rapid rise is closely tied to its technical architecture. As a decentralized exchange focused on perpetual contracts, Lighter has introduced an innovative trading infrastructure within the Ethereum ecosystem.

The platform is a specialized zk-rollup, employing advanced cryptographic techniques and data structures. Through its verifiable matching engine, it significantly enhances the security and fairness of order book trading.

This technological edge enables it to support high-speed on-chain transactions, effectively competing with established players in the fierce DEX market. Its efficient infrastructure appears to be a key driver behind the recent surge in trading activity and market share.

Meanwhile, the entire Perp DEX sector is shifting its competitive focus from short-term liquidity incentives to sustainable infrastructure development. Lighter seems to be leading in this regard.

04 Market Dynamics

The fierce competition among leading platforms is just a microcosm of the overall activity in the Perp DEX market. Data from December 10th indicates that trading volumes on multiple mainstream platforms have increased significantly, and the open interest has also risen slightly.

This suggests that existing funds remain active, with traders increasing positions or adjusting hedging strategies. Notably, both Hyperliquid and Aster saw trading volume increases of over 30% on December 10th, indicating a strong rebound in competition.

Market volatility may be driven by the effectiveness of platform incentive strategies, attracting funds to move flexibly between platforms. User funds are not long-term locked into a single protocol but are flowing quickly based on market conditions and short-term opportunities.

Meanwhile, the activities of some institutional investors are also noteworthy. Data shows that whales on Hyperliquid are using high leverage to short, indicating that even with trading volume being overtaken, the platform remains a battleground for large traders.

05 Trading Perspective

For traders, the competition among platforms means more choices and opportunities. On Gate Exchange, users can easily trade assets related to these platforms.

As of December 8th, data shows that Hyperliquid’s native token HYPE was priced at $30.18 on Gate, with a 24-hour increase of +0.49%, while its perpetual contract was priced at $30.17, with a 24-hour increase of +0.60%.

HYPE’s total market cap has reached approximately $8.12 billion, with a circulating supply of about 271 million tokens. This market cap reflects the market’s long-term valuation of Hyperliquid and its ecosystem.

Future Outlook

In this intense battle for the top spot, Lighter’s impressive performance stands out. It has created trading volumes comparable to or even higher than Hyperliquid with only about 31% of its TVL.

On Hyperliquid, a whale is building a short position worth $4.39 million with 25x leverage, reflecting high-risk bets and complex market sentiment regarding the current landscape.

As the war among perpetual contract DEXs expands from trading volume rankings to deeper competition around capital efficiency and technological innovation, the position of the leader may no longer be a long-term privilege of any single platform but a fluid standard for measuring the next wave of DeFi innovation.