Better Crypto Buy: Lighter vs. Hyperliquid

On July 1, Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ: HOOD) made a move that may prove to be defining for one market in particular. Its newly launched Robinhood Chain now routes trading in perpetual futures contracts, leveraged derivatives with no expiration date, through Lighter (CRYPTO: LIT), a decentralized derivatives exchange. Lighter's token, LIT, was up about 35% in the seven-day period ended July 7.

For holders of Hyperliquid (CRYPTO: HYPE), the reigning decentralized perpetuals venue, this new deal between Robinhood and Lighter is yet another competitive threat among the many that are rising. So which is the better coin to buy, Hyperliquid or Lighter?

Lighter's Robinhood deal makes it a lot more appealing, but there's a catch

The case in favor of Lighter starts with the fact that the deal with Robinhood is no small thing. Robinhood serves nearly 28 million customers, and its wallet now lets users deposit stablecoins into Lighter's smart contracts as collateral for trading perpetuals.

Presently, Lighter is the third-largest decentralized perpetuals exchange, with $1.3 billion in 24-hour trading volume on July 7. On an annualized basis, revenue generated from its trading fees could total $95 million.

But its recent trajectory has been ugly: Revenue fell from nearly $40 million in Q4 2025 to about $20 million in Q1 2026 to less than $10 million in Q2 2026. Whatever new volume it gets from Robinhood is badly needed.

Image source: Getty Images.

There is also a large asterisk regarding its relationship with Robinhood. First, the perps product being offered is unavailable in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Switzerland, the U.A.E., and Singapore; it's primarily targeted at the E.U. U.S. accounts form the bulk of Robinhood's customer base. Thus, the addressable slice of the market that Lighter has newly privileged access to is far smaller than Robinhood's total user base, at least for now.

Lighter paired the Robinhood launch with a change to its tokenomics model, which is highly favorable to holders. Fees incurred by traders using Lighter's platform now will be used to repurchase its token, and the repurchased tokens will then be burned to reduce the circulating supply, much like a stock buyback. This means whatever new traffic it gets from Robinhood will accrue directly to holders.

Hyperliquid is powering forward despite being beset on all sides by competitors

Hyperliquid competes directly with Lighter, and it features similar holder-friendly tokenomics. Indeed, 99% of trading fees on Hyperliquid go straight into open-market buybacks and token burns. In Q2 alone, the network brought in about $202 million in revenue from fees, and cumulative buybacks have retired roughly 4.7% of its maximum possible supply.

Hyperliquid is a lot larger than Lighter, and it controls 61.5% of the decentralized perpetuals market. So it's positioned to capture new market growth even without an agreement with a player like Robinhood. It also doesn't offer its perpetuals markets to users in the U.S. presently.

Another big factor in Hyperliquid's favor is that in May, it signed a critical stablecoin deal with Coinbase Global and Circle Internet Group that essentially gives it some free revenue. USDC, Circle's stablecoin, is widely held on Hyperliquid's platform. Now, thanks to a new agreement, 90% of the interest payments generated from the U.S. Treasuries that underpin the value of the stablecoins held on the platform are routed to its buybacks.

With almost $6 billion in USDC balances on the chain, that adds an estimated $137 million to $160 million in fresh buyback fuel each year. That's more revenue than Lighter has ever cumulatively generated in its entire existence (about $53 million).

So Hyperliquid is probably the better buy than Lighter, even though Lighter isn't its only competitor, nor will it be the last competitor to sign a major deal. Hyperliquid's strong positioning in the decentralized perpetuals market, its deals with Coinbase and Circle, and its strong tokenomics will likely ensure it continues to grow while retaining market share, albeit perhaps at a slower pace.

To be sure, neither coin is remotely safe. Big players like Robinhood picking sides can reshape the field for both, and neither has been around for very long. There's also no reason why they can't coexist in the same diversified portfolio for those with plenty of risk tolerance.

Alex Carchidi has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Hyperliquid. The Motley Fool recommends Coinbase Global. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.