Wallets linked to Justin Sun have quietly built a large position in Lighter’s new LIT token, picking up around $33 million worth shortly after launch. With these buys, Sun’s total holdings now make up just over 5% of LIT’s circulating supply.
On-chain data suggests this wasn’t about airdrop farming. Instead, the activity looks tied to liquidity provisioning through Lighter’s Liquidity Provider Program.
According to an analysis published on January 1 by on-chain researcher MLM, four wallets connected to Sun each received 1.6 million LIT soon after the token went live. That adds up to 6.4 million LIT, worth about $17 million at the time.
These wallets were funded less than an hour after Lighter’s airdrop form closed, and there’s no sign they took part in earlier points or farming programs.
The activity didn’t stop there. Data shows Sun deposited nearly $200 million into Lighter’s liquidity program. Later, about $38 million was withdrawn, with roughly $33 million of that used to buy another 13.25 million LIT directly from the market.
Altogether, the wallets now hold about 14.9 million LIT, valued near $40 million. That gives Sun control of roughly 5.32% of the circulating supply and about 1.33% of the total supply. Another $5.5 million remains in spot balances tied to the same wallet group.
There are signs this setup may not be unique. One other large liquidity provider deposited $50 million in USDC and later received nearly 875,000 LIT, though the wallet’s ownership isn’t fully clear.
LIT Faces Early Selling Pressure
LIT launched on December 30 as the native token of Lighter, a high-speed perpetual futures DEX built on an Ethereum zk-rollup. At launch, 25% of the supply was airdropped to early users and liquidity providers, pushing circulating supply to around 250 million tokens.
The token supply is split evenly between insiders and the ecosystem. Investors hold 24% and the team holds 26%, both locked for one year and then released gradually over three years. LIT is designed to capture value through fees, buybacks, staking, governance, and access to advanced features.
Like many new tokens, LIT has seen post-airdrop selling and liquidity withdrawals. It debuted around $3.40, then quickly dropped about 30%, trading closer to $2.45 to $2.80.
Even with the price swings, Lighter’s usage looks strong. The platform reported $3.7 billion in trading volume over 30 days and about $101 million in annualized fees.
Whether LIT holds up long term will depend on continued adoption, how revenue sharing plays out, and overall growth in the DeFi perpetuals market. For now, one thing is clear: big players are already taking serious positions.
