#ETF与衍生品 The countdown to TGE at the end of the year, Lighter is really coming 🚀

Someone in Polymarket has bet $125,000 on Lighter's TGE before the end of the year, and Coinbase has also included it in their roadmap. Isn't this signal already obvious enough?

But I think the key isn't how much you can earn from airdrops, but the logic behind this thing. Comparing it to Hyperliquid, Lighter has several undeniable advantages:

**Fees** — 0 fees are too attractive for retail investors. Hyperliquid requires at least $500,000 to have a fee advantage, while for small retail investors in the $1,000-$10,000 range, the total cost on Lighter can be reduced by over 30%, which is directly competitive.

**Stronger architecture** — L2 solution + ZK cross-chain black technology, can directly use mainnet assets as collateral, and also earn staking rewards. Hyperliquid's monolithic application chain approach is honestly riskier; cross-chain bridges are vulnerable to hacking, and previous "pulling the plug" operations for protection funds sound very... centralized.

**Liquidity integration** — Lighter allows you to use stETH, LP tokens, and other assets directly as collateral without transferring back and forth. This is very attractive to institutional funds.

Of course, we must also admit that the real challenge comes after the TGE. Hyperliquid survived because even after mining stopped, trading volume remained, which is a hard indicator. If Lighter drops the ball right after airdrop, just wait for the next flow coin to come and cut profits.

But this wave of Perp DEX versus CEX is just beginning. The combination of Robinhood + Lighter + Citadel really has some potential. If they can truly attract retail investors from the US stock market, who knows how big this can get.

It's promising, but we have to wait until the TGE actually lands. The most prone to pitfalls is just before the airdrop, so staying vigilant is the most important.