The crypto market at the end of 2025 is set to welcome a major event. On December 30th, the decentralized derivatives protocol Lighter officially launched its TGE, with the first wave of airdrops reaching $675 million. This figure is impressive enough to turn heads — last year, Hyperliquid's $1.8 billion airdrop left a deep impression on the industry. Although Lighter's airdrop amount is lower, the backing capital behind it is equally formidable.

The comparison between the two projects is quite interesting. Hyperliquid claims to be purely community-driven without any funding, while Lighter is the complete opposite, directly showcasing strong capital support as its core selling point. The investor lineup includes Founders Fund founded by Peter Thiel, top Silicon Valley venture capital Haun Ventures, Ribbit Capital, and Craft Ventures leading the investment, with strategic investors like a16z, Dragonfly, Lightspeed, Coatue, SV Angel participating as follow-on investors. Even retail broker Robinhood is involved.

What’s even more noteworthy is the speed of action. Anchorage Digital quickly provided custody services on the first day of TGE, indicating that Lighter's target is not retail investors but institutional-level markets. From the luxurious list of investment institutions to the professional custody system, and the choice of the high-threshold track of decentralized derivatives, every step Lighter takes is sending the same signal: this is an institution-led layout dominated by top-tier capital, aiming to create the next ecosystem-level application in the derivatives field.