Lighter AMA Summary - Final Sprint Stage of Private Testing This is an X Space AMA live broadcast hosted by Lighter, a decentralized perpetual contract trading platform based on Ethereum Layer 2 and using customized ZK circuits, aimed at achieving low-cost, low latency transactions. The host is Vlad Novakovski, CEO of Lighter (@ vnovakovski), assisted by community members @ atoshiheist and @ hansolar21. The meeting lasted for about 1 hour and had around 450 real-time participants, with a focus on transparency, consistency of user interests, and long-term scalability. End of private testing&transition to public testing main network The private testing is expected to end in 3-5 weeks, provided that security audits, API enhancements, front-end optimization, and bug fixes are completed. This will mark the end of Season 1 for points; Season 2 will be launched along with the public beta mainnet, and clearer rules will be introduced to prevent score manipulation. The new block explorer (temporary name "Make Block Explorer Great Again") will be released after beta to showcase the ZK architecture and verification process. Token Issuance (TGE) and Airdrop TGE is expected to be in Q4 2025 (around December), depending on whether the spot trading function is ready, as tokens rely on spot infrastructure. The community airdrop share is very considerable and completely independent of investors and team pools. VCs will not embezzle user rewards. The accumulated points during the Beta period (currently around 3.4 million) will be significantly counted towards the airdrop; The official is still conducting weekly snapshots. Fee Model and Profit Strategy Retail traders will permanently have zero transaction fees (both pending and taking orders are zero), similar to the Robinhood model, to enhance the experience and popularity. Source of income: Advanced tiered fees for high-frequency traders (HFT) and market makers (MM), with Maker charging around 0.02 bps and Taker slightly higher. Already connected to 20 market makers, with over 100 candidates; The platform does not provide subsidies and relies solely on profitability to attract customers. Roadmap and New Features Short term (within a few weeks): Launching RWA (Real World Assets) and pre launch perpetual market, which is easier to achieve than spot trading. Mid term (within a few months): Spot trading requires ZK circuit updates, shared collateral, and integration with perpetual matchmakers. Long term (before mid-2026): lending (allowing cross chain ERC-20 as collateral), options (including 0DTE options), market forecasting. The goal is to build a complete DeFi stack in Lighter L2 and prioritize integration with existing Ethereum liquidity such as Aave and Curve, rather than rebuilding everything. The ZK circuit will be open sourced after auditing to ensure transparency and verifiability. User Experience and Technical Optimization Mobile devices (iOS/Android) have entered early planning, with a target UX similar to Robinhood; The existing QR code login will be optimized. The platform monitors P50/P95/P99 delays, and dedicated engineers continue to solve problems such as slow loading. The system is capable of processing hundreds of millions of transactions per day, demonstrating scalability; The perpetual engine is the 'hardest part' and is fully prepared. Regulation and Expansion We are optimistic about US regulation and expect positive changes after the new CFTC chairman takes office in September October. We do not intend to rebuild a complete ecosystem (such as Hyperliquid), but instead focus on seamless integration with Ethereum 100B+DeFi liquidity. Community and Future Interaction Planned multilingual AMA: Vietnamese (8/21), Korean (8/22), Chinese, Spanish, etc. Emphasizing community driven growth, current data includes: TVL 75M +150% YTD LLP income 9759 traders summarize The entire AMA conveyed a strong bullish signal: the team adheres to sustainable development (without subsidies), aligns with community interests, and clarifies the path to becoming the preferred ZK trading layer for Ethereum. The above summary is from Grok After reading my review, Jeff Yan has already started to feel scared