About Lighter
Lighter is a fully on-chain order book exchange built on Arbitrum, offering professional-grade trading without the drawbacks of AMMs. Unlike most DEXs that rely on automated market makers, Lighter enables true limit orders with zero maker fees, attracting professional traders who need precise execution. The protocol achieves gas efficiency through clever smart contract design optimized for Arbitrum's low-cost environment. Lighter represents the evolution toward CEX-like trading experiences while maintaining full decentralization and self-custody.
Supported Blockchains
Features
Pros & Cons
Pros
- True decentralized order book
- Zero fees for makers
- Professional-grade trading
- Gas-efficient on Arbitrum
Cons
- Arbitrum-only currently
- Lower liquidity than major DEXs
- Newer platform
How Lighter Works
Lighter is a fully on-chain central limit order book (CLOB) built on Arbitrum. Unlike AMM-based DEXs that use liquidity pools, Lighter matches buy and sell orders directly on-chain, providing the familiar trading experience of centralized exchanges while maintaining full decentralization and self-custody. The protocol uses gas-optimized smart contracts to enable efficient order matching with minimal transaction costs. Lighter supports both spot trading and perpetual futures with up to 50x leverage, allowing traders to speculate on crypto and stock price movements with 0% trading fees for makers.
Getting Started with Lighter
Visit lighter.xyz and connect your wallet (MetaMask, Rabby, or other Arbitrum-compatible wallets)
Ensure you have ETH on Arbitrum for gas fees - bridge from Ethereum if needed using the official Arbitrum bridge
Deposit funds into your Lighter trading account to start trading
Choose between Spot trading or Perpetuals for leveraged positions up to 50x
Place limit orders (0% fees) or market orders (0.02% taker fee) on available trading pairs
Monitor your positions, set stop-losses, and manage risk through the professional trading interface