Lighter launches BTC and ETH binary options on Core

The decentralized perpetual contract protocol Lighter announced the launch of BTC and ETH binary options on Core. Lighter is a low-latency decentralized exchange built on Ethereum zero-knowledge proofs, with order matching times, prices, and priorities all proven and published on Ethereum to ensure that transactions are verifiable and fair.

Lighter's founder and CEO Vladimir Novakovski stated that the protocol is focusing on advancing options products this quarter, starting with binary options and gradually transitioning to on-chain European options, sharing the same balance sheet as perpetual contracts. Users can trade spot, options, and perpetual contracts on the same platform, enabling composite strategies such as basis trading and Delta hedging.

Lighter claims its latency is in the tens of milliseconds, far lower than some competing platforms that exceed 500 milliseconds. As a U.S. company, Lighter is seeking to obtain a license from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which, if successful, will make it the first on-chain trading venue to obtain such a license.