LightervsArcus
Two order books that meet on Robinhood Chain: Lighter’s zero-fee zk-rollup with a live token versus Arcus, the dYdX team’s new venue for tokenized stocks and equity perps.
At a glance
Full comparison
Every figure is a dated snapshot from public sources (Oct 10, 2026); fields without a verifiable source show n/a. “Best” marks the stronger value in a row — higher volume or liquidity, lower fees, longer track record. Max leverage is shown as information, not a positive.
| Exchange | $LIT ★★★★★★★★★★88/100Excellent | $— ★★★★★★★★★★70/100Fair |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Perp DEX | Perp + Spot (RWA) |
| Chains | zkLighter (Ethereum L2)Robinhood Chain | Robinhood Chain |
| 24h volume | $1.57BBest | $282.6M |
| 7d volume | $15.13BBest | $3.16B |
| Total value lockedLiquidity depth | $749.2MBest | $50.4M |
| Open interest | $1.24BBest | $88.0M |
| Token price | $3.73 | No token |
| 24h change | 4.68% | — |
| Market cap | $931.6M | n/a |
| Maker feeNegative = rebate | 0% | 0% |
| Taker feeLower is cheaper | 0%Best | 0.0225% |
| Max leverageHigher = riskier | 50× | 50× |
| Trading pairs | 246Best | 60 |
| LaunchedLonger track record | 2025Best | 2026 |
| Security scoredexwatch estimate | 80/100 | n/a |
| Audits | zkSecurityNethermind9 published reports | Not available |
LIT launched on 30 December 2025 with a 25% airdrop; the points programme that preceded it is over. Since July 2026 a separate Lighter instance powers perps inside Robinhood Wallet on Robinhood Chain.
Matching runs off-chain; custody and settlement are on-chain with an escape hatch for withdrawals. Perps are still rolled out by waitlist and are not available in the US, UK or Canada. No public audit report was found, and reported volume is about ten times open interest.
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The honest take
We have not published an editorial pros-and-cons review for Arcus yet; the figures above come from public sources.