Lighter, an Ethereum-based Layer 2 decentralized exchange, has achieved a valuation of $1.5 billion following a $68 million funding round led by Founders Fund and Ribbit Capital. The exchange, known for its perpetual trading protocol, reported a 7-day trading volume of $737.7 billion, outpacing competitors Aster and Hyperliquid. Lighter plans to launch a spot trading platform with 5-millisecond latency and a throughput of up to 650,000 transactions per second. The platform's order-book-based system, which offers zero fees and minimal slippage, is seen as a potential challenger to Uniswap’s AMM model. Additionally, Lighter is preparing for a token airdrop in Q4, with 25% to 30% of tokens allocated to the community.