Perp DEX Showdown: Hyperliquid’s Dominance vs. Lighter’s zk-CLOB Gambit

Charlene Lensburg
Fri, 05 Sep 2025 06:36:17 +0000
Defi Series

This piece of investor education is part of our FinTelegram DeFi Series.

Hyperliquid has consolidated a commanding lead in decentralized perpetuals with record revenues and market share, while newcomer Lighter is courting traders with a zk-rollup CLOB, zero-fee retail, and an HLP-style liquidity vault. Is this the next serious challenger—or just incentive-driven beta hype? (Sources: Yahoo Finanzen,The Block,Hyperliquid Docs,Lighter Docs)

Key points

Hyperliquid = current market leader: August revenue ~$106–110M; ~70–80% share of DeFi perps volume depending on methodology; multi-trillion cumulative perp volume (Sources: Yahoo Finanzen,The Block,defillama.com).

HYPE & HLP flywheel: Token airdrop + community-owned HLP market-making vault underpin depth, uptime, and CEX-like execution (Sources: Blockchain News,Hyperliquid Docs).

Lighter’s pitch: zk-rollup with verifiable matching/liquidations, CLOB UX, zero fees for retail, and an LLP market-making vault (Hyperliquid-like). Still in/just leaving closed beta (Sources: Lighter Docs,Benzinga).

Early metrics & caveats: ~56k users, ~$300–340M TVL; eye-catching daily volumes but an unusually high volume/open-interest ratio signals heavy incentives or wash-trading risk during beta (Source: Benzinga)

Market snapshot (as of 5 Sep 2025)

Hyperliquid: 30-day perp volume ~$387B; OI ~$11.9B; cumulative perp volume >$2.5T. Market cap (HYPE) ~$12B (FDV ~ $45B) (Sources: defillama.com).

Revenue momentum: August revenue reported ~$106M and higher; multiple outlets note leadership in DeFi perps share (Sources: Yahoo Finanzen,thecurrencyanalytics.com).

Lighter: Private beta began Jan; public rollout this month; ~56k users, TVL ~$340M (per DefiLlama references), points program live (Sources: Benzinga,Lighter Docs).

Why Hyperliquid leads

Depth + reliability: Community-owned HLP vault market-makes and backstops liquidations; onchain governance routes fees to HLP and an assistance fund—no “insider fee siphon.” This has produced tight spreads and resilience under stress (Sources: Hyperliquid Docs,Medium).

Tokenization loop: The HYPE airdrop (late-2024/early-2025 seasons) catalyzed growth; the platform has sustained activity beyond airdrop euphoria—rare in DeFi (Sources: Blockchain News,airdrops.io).

Scale effects: Leadership compounds liquidity: better fills beget more traders, reinforcing market share. Recent data shows Hyperliquid chipping away even at Binance’s derivatives dominance (ratios are creeping up) (Source: The Block).

What Lighter is doing differently

zk-CLOB verification: Lighter says it zk-proves the full trade-execution path (not just end balances), aiming for CEX-grade performance with onchain verifiability (Source: Benzinga).

Retail zero-fee: Aggressive go-to-market—fee-free retail trading plus a points program that also controls how much capital users can allocate to the LLP vault (Sources: Lighter Docs,Airdroplet.com).

LLP as margin (planned): Post-beta, Lighter plans to let traders use LLP deposits as margin, simultaneously earning yield and trading—functionality most perp DEXs (including Hyperliquid) don’t offer natively today (Sources: Benzinga).

The red flags & reality checks

Incentive distortion: Analysts flagged Lighter’s volume/open-interest ratio (e.g., ~27 vs. HL ~0.76), a classic marker of incentive-amplified churn. Numbers often reset once points end or fees normalize. (Source cites K33 commentary.)

Beta ≠ battle-tested: Closed-beta stats can mask slippage/outage behavior in true stress events. Hyperliquid’s edge in “extreme piles” scenarios is a frequent trader refrain.

VC vs. community: Lighter touts a16z/Lightspeed backing; that can speed product, but token design, unlocks, and fee routing will determine if liquidity is durable or mercenary.

Regulatory & risk angle (FinTelegram lens)

Perps are derivatives: In the EU, CASP/MiCA perimeter is tightening around leveraged crypto derivatives; DEXs operating via smart contracts still face on-ramps/off-ramps and market-making scrutiny, especially where retail access, leverage, and promotional incentives intersect. (We’ll continue monitoring ESMA guidance changes as they roll through 2025–26.) (General context; watch for enforcement rather than headline bans.)

Market integrity: Points/airdrop seasons can inflate “headline volumes.” For investor-protection narratives, OI, depth on non-majors, realized fees, and slippage under volatility are better quality signals than raw daily volume.

Our take

Base case: Hyperliquid stays #1 near term; its HLP + execution reliability + already-won network effects keep it the default venue for serious perp flow.

Challenger case: Lighter could carve out a 10–20% niche if it ships LLP-as-margin, keeps zero-fee retail (or smart fee routing), and proves zk-CLOB advantages in live volatility. But beta-era metrics likely compress post-incentives.

Actionable signals to track (dashboard checklist)

1. Hyperliquid: HLP APY/net PnL trend; outage/latency incidents; per-pair depth on mid/long-tail assets.

2. Lighter: Transition from beta → public; persistent OI/volume normalization; LLP utilization caps tied to points; execution quality in volatile windows.

3. Cross-venue: Share vs. Binance perps over time; revenue persistence after incentives.