Lighter Airdrop distributes LIT tokens! Registering a US company will result in 100% of the revenue being converted back into tokens.

Lighter issues LIT as a US C-Corp, announcing that the company has zero profits and will return all protocol revenues to token holders, with zero lock-up airdrops and institutional-grade unlocks.
(Background: Lighter is about to launch on Coinbase. Is issuing tokens now too late?)
(Additional context: Aster, Lighter… fierce competitors encircle, Hyperliquid’s siege war)

Today, Lighter announced the official issuance of the LIT token. The issuing entity is a Delaware-registered C-Corp, which also defines Lighter as a “US derivatives infrastructure company.” Lighter publicly commits to no profit retention, with all net protocol revenues redistributed to token holders through buybacks or dividends.

For a market recently opened to crypto regulation by the Trump administration, this is the first time seeing an agreement directly establish a US entity that treats tokens as the sole value bearer.

Regulatory environment suddenly becomes an advantage

Lighter chooses to issue tokens within the United States, supported by the GENIUS Act’s relaxation of digital asset definitions and the CFTC digital asset pilot program, creating a regulatory sandbox. According to Lighter’s announcement, the company applies both Regulation D and Regulation S exemptions to raise funds from accredited investors and overseas markets. Historically, such operations almost inevitably faced SEC litigation, but now they serve as proof of entry for “institutional-grade DeFi,” indicating that policy climate has shifted from resistance to a protective moat.

We are announcing the Lighter Infrastructure Token (LIT)! Lighter is building infrastructure for the future of finance, and the native token is key to aligning incentives. In this thread, we will describe the structure of the token, broader vision, and roadmap of use cases.
— Lighter (@Lighter_xyz) December 30, 2025

100% value belongs to the token

The most attention-grabbing aspect is the revenue distribution mechanism. Traditional approaches often split profits between shareholders and token holders while retaining company profits.

Lighter directly abandons equity premiums, announcing that the company only charges cost fees, with all excess profits fully reflected in the LIT price. Based on Lighter’s current revenue sources—transaction fees and high-frequency data subscription fees—the distribution is carried out through on-chain buybacks or proportional dividends.

Half of the total LIT supply is allocated to ecosystem development, with 250 million tokens airdropped on the launch day to early staking users, with no lock-up.

It is estimated that this airdrop will inevitably cause short-term selling pressure, but it will significantly expand the number of holders and secondary market depth. Meanwhile, the team and early investors holding 50% will undergo a one-year cliff before a linear unlock over three years. The distribution design is “allow the community to enter first, internal liquidity to come later,” reducing concerns about long-term dumping.