Lighter Partners with Chainlink for Real-World Asset Derivatives
Lighter, a zero-knowledge rollup-based perpetual futures decentralized exchange (DEX) on Ethereum Layer 2, has announced a strategic partnership with Chainlink. Chainlink will serve as Lighter’s official oracle partner.
The integration uses Chainlink Data Streams to provide accurate pricing data for real-world asset (RWA) derivatives markets. This includes commodities, equities, and foreign exchange (FX) markets. Such data supports Lighter’s key functions like triggering liquidations, calculating margin usage, and processing conditional and limit orders.
Lighter’s Growth and Market Position
Launched as a ZK-rollup perpetual futures DEX, Lighter combines Ethereum mainnet security with Layer 2 scalability. The platform has attracted over 430,000 users and processed more than 22 billion transactions, according to its explorer.
Lighter uses zero-knowledge proofs to verify transactions accurately and transparently. This appeals to both experienced traders and DeFi newcomers. Its total value locked (TVL) has grown 2000 times in six months, reaching $1.14 billion as per DeFiLlama data.
Recently, Lighter surpassed Hyperliquid in 24-hour perpetual trading volume, with over $8.85 billion traded. This places Lighter first among decentralized perpetual trading platforms, although Hyperliquid maintains the highest open interest.
The Expanding Perpetual DEX Market
The perpetual DEX sector is rapidly evolving, with trading volumes rising sharply. This growth challenges large centralized exchanges like Binance and Coinbase.
A report by 21Shares shows the perp DEX market surged from one billion to over $100 billion in monthly trading volume during 2025. Hyperliquid led early in the year with about 80% market share. By October 2025, competitors such as Aster and Lighter began reducing its dominance.
Regulatory pressure on centralized exchanges and demand for transparency are driving interest in decentralized derivatives platforms. Recent events, like MEXC freezing user funds and large withdrawals following accusations, have heightened trader demand for secure, decentralized options.
