Bitwise launches first Lighter ETP on Xetra after Hyperliquid product

Bitwise Asset Management launched an exchange-traded product tracking Lighter on Deutsche Börse Xetra on Wednesday, the first wrapper to give European investors exposure to LIT, the token of the perpetual futures exchange that has spent the year chasing Hyperliquid.

Named the Bitwise Lighter Staking ETP and tickered BLIT, the product is fully backed by LIT held in cold storage and carries a 0.85% annual expense ratio. European investors can buy it through a regular brokerage account, no wallet, no gas.

If you watched Bitwise's Hyperliquid staking ETP go live in Europe in April, this is the same wrapper for the closest rival.

What BLIT actually does today

You can buy BLIT through a regular brokerage account on Xetra. Under the hood, the ETP holds LIT in cold storage.

One thing to know before you read the name as a promise: BLIT is not yet generating staking rewards. Bitwise said staking will begin once the product holds enough assets under management to make the process efficient. Bitwise has not published the threshold at which that happens.

Lighter versus Hyperliquid, in one paragraph

Lighter runs on Ethereum as a layer-2 and uses zero-knowledge proofs to verify trades while letting users keep custody of their assets. Hyperliquid runs its own layer-1. Both venues are built around perpetual futures, but Lighter charges retail traders zero fees as part of its push to compete with the established leader.

Hyperliquid held more than 61% of decentralized perpetual futures trading on one public measure of market share. In May, Circle announced a deal to expand USDC usage on Hyperliquid, and Coinbase on-chain data showed roughly $5 billion in USDC was held on the chain at the time. Lighter recorded nearly $1.8 billion in trading volume over the past 24 hours, CoinGecko data showed.

Why Bitwise is wrapping both sides

Bitwise launched its Hyperliquid staking ETP in Europe in April and is now adding the closest competitor. For the firm, that is a fast way to own the institutional shelf in decentralized perps whichever venue ends up taking share next cycle.

Lighter has been building distribution in parallel. In July, Robinhood integrated it into Robinhood Chain, its Ethereum layer-2 network, giving eligible Robinhood Wallet users access to Lighter's perpetual futures, with trades settled through Lighter smart contracts on Robinhood Chain.

BLIT adds another lane for European investors who would not touch an on-chain DEX or a self-custody wallet but will buy a regulated wrapper on Xetra.