$250M pulled from Lighter 24 hours after $675 million token airdrop

Onchain data from Bubblemaps revealed that roughly $250 million was withdrawn from decentralized perpetual exchange Lighter after it airdropped $675 million worth of LIT on Tuesday.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

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.