#What Caused LIT's Downturn?
LIT, the native token of the Lighter platform, experienced a significant decline of over 15% in the last 24 hours. This drop pushed the token price below $1.70, primarily due to a general selloff in the cryptocurrency market. In conjunction with this downturn, Bitcoin also faced declines, dropping from approximately $95,000 to $92,000 before slightly recovering to about $93,000 by midday Monday.
Despite the recent decline in its value, Lighter has managed to maintain robust trading activities. In the previous day, the platform reported around $2.25 billion in trading volume, making it the third highest among its competitors. Hyperliquid led with $2.7 billion, while Aster surpassed them all with $4.5 billion, as per the latest data from DefiLlama.
#How Does Lighter Rank in Open Interest?
With about $1.31 billion in open interest, Lighter holds the third position, trailing behind Aster at $2.6 billion and Hyperliquid at $8.9 billion. Open interest represents the total number of outstanding contracts that have not been settled. This metric is crucial as it indicates the investment activity and market sentiment surrounding a particular platform.
#What About Lighter's Buyback Program?
On-chain analysis indicates that the Lighter team has undertaken buybacks amounting to approximately $1.7 million worth of LIT tokens. Since the buyback program's announcement on January 6, 2026, the total value of buybacks has reached around $2.8 million at current prices near $1.70. This proactive measure might provide some support for the token amid the prevailing market challenges.
#Conclusion
As Lighter navigates through this current market volatility, its strategy of maintaining high trading volumes and active buybacks may play a key role in its resilience. With a strong foundation and evolving strategies, investors will be keen to monitor how LIT responds to ongoing market conditions.