Bitwise Asset Management has launched an exchange-traded product (ETP) in Europe tracking Lighter, giving traditional investors a way to gain exposure to one of Hyperliquid's emerging rivals without buying its token directly.

On Wednesday, Bitwise said its Bitwise Lighter Staking ETP (BLIT) had launched on Deutsche Börse Xetra — the German exchange operator's primary electronic trading platform and a common listing venue for crypto ETPs — making it the first exchange-traded product tracking LIT, the native token of decentralized derivatives platform Lighter. The launch was detailed in the firm's official press release.

The product is fully backed by LIT held in cold storage and carries a 0.85% annual expense ratio. European investors can buy the ETP through a regular brokerage account without needing to purchase or hold LIT directly, avoiding the wallet setup and private-key management that direct token ownership requires.

Despite the "staking" in its name, BLIT is not yet generating staking rewards. Bitwise said staking will begin once the product reaches sufficient assets under management to make the process efficient. Until then, the ETP will track LIT's price without producing staking returns, leaving the pace of asset accumulation as the milestone that determines when staking switches on.

The Lighter product follows Bitwise's launch of a Hyperliquid staking ETP in Europe in, as the asset manager expands its lineup to include tokens tied to some of the largest decentralized derivatives platforms. Together, the two listings put the sector's dominant venue and one of its emerging challengers on the same European trading venue.

Lighter is an Ethereum-based decentralized exchange focused on perpetual futures, using zero-knowledge proofs to verify trades while allowing users to retain control of their assets rather than depositing them with a centralized exchange. The platform also offers zero-fee trading for retail users as part of its effort to compete with established decentralized derivatives platforms such as Hyperliquid. Lighter recorded nearly $1.8 billion in trading volume over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data.

Lighter takes on the perp market leader

Lighter gained a major distribution channel in July, when Robinhood integrated the exchange into Robinhood Chain, its Ethereum layer-2 network. Eligible Robinhood Wallet users can trade perpetual futures through Lighter, with trades settled using Lighter smart contracts on Robinhood Chain.

Hyperliquid remains the much larger player. Unlike Lighter, which operates as an Ethereum layer-2, Hyperliquid runs on its own layer-1 blockchain. It controlled more than 61% of decentralized perpetual futures trading, according to data cited by The Motley Fool, and has continued to expand through partnerships of its own.

In May, Circle announced a deal to expand USDC usage on Hyperliquid, including deeper liquidity and easier cross-chain transfers of the stablecoin. At the time, roughly $5 billion in USDC was held on Hyperliquid, according to Coinbase, with the expansion also covered in Circle's announcement. For Lighter, the Robinhood distribution channel and zero-fee retail trading form the core of its competitive push against that lead.