# Lighter vs edgeX in 2026

Updated 24 September 2026, Books read to 19 September 2026, The Wallet First review desk

## Lighter vs edgeX side by side

| What differs | Lighter | edgeX |
|---|---|---|
| Score of 5 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
| Model | Hybrid — off-chain matching, batches proven on Ethereum | Hybrid — off-chain matching, settlement on the EDGE chain |
| Sign-in | Wallet signature | Wallet or MPC login |
| On this register | Entered — one signed message from an Ethereum wallet is the whole sign-in | Not entered — its user terms offer an MPC login as an alternative to a wallet |
| What the terms say about documents | None in the documentation we read | None in the user terms we read |
| Maker / taker, entry tier | 0% maker / 0% taker | 0.040% maker / 0.045% taker |
| $10,000 taker round trip | $0.00 | $9.00 |
| Perp markets | 214 | 172 |
| Median BTC depth within 10 bps | $16.7 million | $29.6 million |
| Median impact of a $100,000 order | 0.62 bps | 0.02 bps |
| Exit without the operator | Documented — critical operations submitted on-chain | Documented — direct chain interaction bypassing the operator |
| Custody score, 0-10 | 10.0 | 10.0 |

Terms, fees and market counts read on 18 September 2026 in each venue's own documentation; depth and spread are our own snapshots.

## Verdict

Lighter vs edgeX: Lighter scores 4.5 of 5 against 4.0 on zero default
fees, while edgeX held the deeper book at a median $29.6 million within 10 basis points. Both sign
traders in without documents. Whatever the door asks for, a leveraged position asks for margin and can take all of it.

## [Lighter](https://docs.lighter.xyz) — zero default fees with a protocol-level exit (4.5 of 5)

The door is one message signed from an Ethereum wallet; what you deposit afterwards goes to Lighter's
contracts ([Lighter docs](https://docs.lighter.xyz/trading/api.md), checked 18 September 2026). A default account pays
0% maker / 0% taker, every batch of trades is proven back to Ethereum, and the exits that matter can
be forced through on-chain. The market list runs to 214 perpetuals over seven asset
classes.

- For: 0% maker and taker on the default account; Exit that the sequencer must process.
- Against: 300 ms taker delay on the free tier; No published screening policy in the docs we read.
- Not for: latency-sensitive takers on the free account.

## [edgeX](https://edgex-1.gitbook.io/edgeX-documentation) — the deeper book of the two (4.0 of 5)

Either a wallet or an MPC login gets a trader through, and what they trade settles on the EDGE chain
([edgeX user terms](https://pro.edgex.exchange/userterms), checked 18 September 2026). Of the two books here its own ran deeper: a median
$29.6 million resting inside 10 basis points. The way out is written down too — its
self-custody page sets out withdrawals that go around the operator. 172 markets,
priced at 0.040% maker / 0.045% taker.

- For: Median BTC depth of $29.6 million; Documented exit without the operator.
- Against: 0.040% maker fee; Auto-deleveraging can close part of a profitable position.
- Not for: makers at the entry tier.

## Where the two part company

1. Only one of the two is on this register: edgeX documents an MPC login opened from an email or a social account, and that second door keeps it off every ranking here.
2. Cost: 0% maker / 0% taker on Lighter's default account against 0.040% maker / 0.045% taker on edgeX.
3. Depth: $29.6 million within 10 bps on edgeX, $16.7 million on Lighter, in our snapshots.
4. Exit: both document withdrawals that do not depend on the operator, the strongest custody pair here.
5. Onboarding: a wallet signature on Lighter, a wallet or an MPC login on edgeX — no documents either way.

Weights: access 30, custody 25, cost 20, coverage 15, liquidity 10 (https://cafrodytes.com/how-we-score)

## Order books

BTC perpetual order books sampled on 19 September 2026, ten minutes between readings, beginning just after midnight UTC; every figure is the median of all successful snapshots.

| Venue | $10,000 round trip, taker fees | Median spread | Median depth within 10 bps | Median impact, $100,000 order | Snapshots |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lighter | $0.00 | 0.01 bps | $16.7 million | 0.62 bps | 56 |
| edgeX | $9.00 | 0.04 bps | $29.6 million | 0.02 bps | 57 |

## Price against depth

Lighter's default account charges 0% maker / 0% taker, so a $10,000 taker round trip costs only the
spread, and the account accepts 300 ms of added taker latency in exchange
([Lighter docs](https://docs.lighter.xyz/trading/trading-fees), checked 18 September 2026). edgeX charges 0.040% maker / 0.045% taker, or
$9.00 for the same round trip ([edgeX docs](https://pro.edgex.exchange/en-US/vip), checked 18 September 2026).

Depth runs the other way. In our snapshots edgeX held a median $29.6 million of BTC within
10 basis points against $16.7 million on Lighter, and a $100,000 market order moved the price
0.02 bps on edgeX against 0.62 bps on Lighter. For a small order the free
venue wins on cost; for a large one the deeper book can save more in impact than the fee costs.

## Two documented ways out

This is the pair's shared strength. Lighter's architecture lets a trader submit critical exit
operations on-chain — withdrawals, pool exits, reduce-only orders — which the sequencer must process
within a set timeframe ([Lighter docs](https://docs.lighter.xyz/about-lighter/technical-architecture-lighter-core.md), checked 18 September 2026). edgeX documents direct
blockchain interaction that verifies balances and executes withdrawals while bypassing the operator
entirely ([edgeX self-custody](https://pro.edgex.exchange/en-US/home), checked 18 September 2026).

Most venues in this category have nothing equivalent: on Extended, EVEDEX, Aster and Hyperliquid a
withdrawal depends on the operator processing it. That is the single largest difference between
custody scores on this site.

## Why only one of them is on the register

This desk enters a venue when the sign-in its own onboarding pages document is a signature from a
wallet the trader already holds, with no email account, no social login and no wallet the venue opens
on their behalf. Lighter clears that: an Ethereum wallet signs a message and the account exists. edgeX
does not, because its user terms put the EDGE chain behind a non-custodial wallet **or** an MPC-based
login, and the second route spins a wallet up for a trader arriving with a social account and no keys
of their own.

So edgeX is ranked nowhere on this site, and this page is the only one carrying it. That is deliberate
rather than a gap: the pair is one readers compare constantly, and printing it with the reason for the
exclusion attached is more use than leaving the comparison to someone who draws no line at all. Its
marks under the same five headings are published on
[how we rate](/how-we-score#every-mark-on-the-site-in-one-table).

## What neither of them publishes

Screening. We found no description of deposit screening in Lighter's documentation or in edgeX's user
terms as we read them on 18 September 2026. That is not evidence that neither screens: it means a
trader cannot read what happens to a deposit before sending it. Among wallet-first venues, EVEDEX is
the one that publishes the mechanism — automated screening of on-chain behaviour
(stated in the EVEDEX documentation, 18 September 2026) — which is the axis of our
[list by disclosure](/perp-dex-list-by-onboarding).

## Quoted

> "Users can submit critical exit operations—such as withdrawals, public pool exits, or reduce-only IOC orders—on-chain, ensuring that the Sequencer must process them within a predefined timeframe." — Lighter documentation, Technical architecture, 18 September 2026. https://docs.lighter.xyz/about-lighter/technical-architecture-lighter-core
> "users can utilize direct blockchain interactions to verify their balances and execute withdrawals, completely bypassing the operator" — edgeX documentation, V2 self-custody, 18 September 2026. https://edgex-1.gitbook.io/edgeX-documentation/edgex-v2/self-custody
> "Accessing the EDGE Chain requires a non-custodial wallet or MPC-based login." — edgeX user terms, 18 September 2026. https://pro.edgex.exchange/userterms
## Method and limits

Not one of these figures was requested from a venue. The sign-up page, the terms of use behind it, the
fee schedule, the market list — each quoted as it stood on 18 September 2026, and where a marketing
line and a contract disagree the contract is what gets printed. All 2 venues here are
marked against [one rubric](/how-we-score), set down on 21 September 2026 before any had been read. Depth
is the exception: nobody publishes it usefully, so each venue's public BTC book was opened here and
sampled on 19 September 2026, ten minutes between readings, beginning just after midnight UTC. No account was registered, no order sent.

Which venues were eligible to be marked at all is settled before any of that, by the one test this
desk applies: the sign-in a venue's own onboarding pages document has to be a signature from a wallet
the trader already holds, with no email account, no social login and no wallet the venue opens for them
behind it. EVEDEX, Extended, Lighter and Aevo meet it and carry an order book we could sample. The
[admission test](/how-we-score#what-puts-a-venue-on-this-register) names the venues it keeps out, and
the front-page door count is where a reader can check the sorting venue by venue.

Silence in a column is not a clean finding: a venue that writes nothing about screening is recorded as
having written nothing. Every door and every custody line above is a venue describing itself, in a
document it wrote and may rewrite, and one address on one day can be asked for more than any page here
records.

Two narrower ones. Depth was read on BTC books alone; fee columns carry the rate a new account is
charged, nothing taken off.

## FAQ

### Is Lighter better than edgeX?

On our criteria Lighter scores 4.5 of 5 against 4.0, carried by
zero default fees. edgeX wins on depth, holding a median $29.6 million of BTC within 10 basis
points against $16.7 million, which matters more as order size grows.

### Does Lighter charge fees?

Not on its default account, which trades at 0% maker / 0% taker and adds 300 ms to taker orders.
Faster account types carry fees. For a $10,000 taker round trip the default account costs only the
spread the order crosses.

### Does edgeX require KYC?

No documents are requested: its user terms describe access to the EDGE chain through a non-custodial
wallet or an MPC-based login. We found no description of deposit screening in those terms as read on
18 September 2026, which is not the same as none.

### Which is safer, Lighter or edgeX?

Both document an exit that does not depend on the operator, which is the strongest custody feature on
this site and the reason both score 10.0 out of 10 there.
Beyond that, audits and bug bounties differ, and leverage risk is identical on either.

### What is an MPC login?

A sign-in that splits the private key into shares held in different places, so no single party holds
the whole key. It lets a venue offer email-style access without custody of funds, which is how edgeX
onboards traders who do not use a browser wallet.

### Which has more markets?

Lighter, at 214 perpetual markets against 172 on edgeX, and it
spans seven asset classes where edgeX spans four. Both list crypto, equities and commodities, and only
Lighter carries bond exposure among the venues this desk reads. Market count is breadth; the depth
behind each listing is a separate question.

### Can you withdraw if the exchange goes down?

On these two, the documentation says yes: Lighter's critical operations can be submitted on-chain, and
edgeX describes direct chain interaction that bypasses the operator. On most other wallet-first venues
a withdrawal still needs the operator to process it. Both routes depend on the underlying chain still
accepting transactions at the time.

### What is a maker fee?

The fee charged on an order that rests in the book and waits to be filled, adding liquidity. edgeX
charges makers 0.040%, one of the higher maker rates among wallet-first venues, while
Lighter's default account charges nothing on either side.

### Do either support stocks?

Both list equity exposure among their asset classes, alongside crypto and commodities. Venues differ in
when those markets are open: some follow the underlying session, while EVEDEX states that all of its
markets, shares included, trade around the clock. Session hours are worth checking before a position
is left open over a weekend.

### Which has better liquidity for large orders?

edgeX, on our measurements. A $100,000 market order moved its BTC price 0.02 bps against
0.62 bps on Lighter, and its resting depth within 10 basis points was
$29.6 million against $16.7 million. Both readings are medians of our own snapshots,
not figures either venue publishes.

## Corrections

One published formula, fixed 21 September 2026; every number carries the date it was read. Corrections: desk@cafrodytes.com.

Compiled by The Wallet First review desk, 24 September 2026.

Publication here is paid for.