Lighter trading platform sees $250 million withdrawn 24 hours after airdrop

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Lighter trading platform sees $250 million withdrawn 24 hours after airdrop

Bubblemaps CEO says outflows seen on Lighter on Dec. 31 are not uncommon as users rebalance hedging positions and move on to the next farming opportunity.

By Olivier Acuna|Edited by Oliver Knight

Updated Dec 31, 2025, 3:30 p.m. Published Dec 31, 2025, 3:29 p.m.

Lighter sees $250 million in outflows following its token generation event. (geralt/Pixabay)

What to know:

• Approximately $250 million was withdrawn from Lighter after its $675 million LIT token airdrop.
• The withdrawals represent about 20% of Lighter's total value locked, according to Bubblemaps CEO Nicolas Vaiman.
• Large withdrawals post-token generation events are common as early participants exit, says CertiK's Natalie Newson.

Onchain data from Bubblemaps revealed that roughly $250 million was withdrawn from decentralized perpetual exchange Lighter after it airdropped $675 million worth of LIT on Tuesday.

In an X post, Bubblemaps questioned whether “all the (yield) farmers were leaving?” It also noted that Lighter users withdrew roughly $201.9 million worth of tokens on the Ethereum blockchain and approximately $52.2 million on arbitrum.

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Nicolas Vaiman, CEO of Bubblemaps, told CoinDesk that "these outflows represent more or less 20% of Lighter's total value locked (TVL) assets that total $1.4 billion per DeFiLlama”. He also said that, “while this is a large number, outflows like this following an airdrop are not uncommon as users rebalance hedging positions and move capital to the next farming opportunity.”

Vaiman said outflows similar to this one were seen after Hyperliquid and Aster launched their tokens and that it will “likely happen again with other airdrops such as the PERP DEX or Paradex, Extended".

Natalie Newson, CertiK senior blockchain security researcher, also spoke with CoinDesk regarding this event: "Large withdrawals after TGEs are usually driven by airdrop farmers and early participants exiting their positions. This is seen beyond just Lighter, though. We see it across many token launches. Without clear insight into new token distributions, there's a fog that allows a few insiders to operate and capture outsized gains shortly after launch."

Leading up to the airdrop, LIT trading volume had remained relatively steady, ranging between $8 billion to $15 billion in November. However, in recent days, it dropped to as low as $2 billion, according to DeFiLlama data. The price of LIT has also dropped by nearly 23% since Dec. 30 from $3.37 to approximately $2.57.

tokenairdropOutflowsdecentralized exchanges

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