Lighter vs KuCoin

Lighter or KuCoin: which to use

Lighter vs KuCoin is a decentralized exchange against a centralized one. On Lighter you trade from a self-custody wallet without ID, at 0 bp maker and 0 bp taker on the default Standard account, with up to 50x. KuCoin requires identity verification, holds your funds in an account, and charges 2 bp maker and 6 bp taker, with up to 125x. As of 1 October 2026, KuCoin lists 686 perp markets against Lighter's 194. Custody, ID, fees and the leverage ceiling are the main differences.

How each exchange is built

Lighter is a decentralized exchange (DEX) that runs on zkLighter. You trade from a self-custody wallet. It matches orders on a central limit order book.

KuCoin is a centralized exchange (CEX): you open an account with the company, and the account holds your funds. It also matches orders on a central limit order book.

For the trader, the difference is custody. On Lighter the funds stay in your wallet. On KuCoin they sit in an account with the company.

Fees and what they mean

Lighter's base tier is 0 bp maker and 0 bp taker, per Lighter's fee page. That rate applies to the default Standard account, whose taker orders wait 300 ms. A Premium account has a 140 ms delay and pays 0.4 bp maker and 2.8 bp taker. KuCoin's base tier is 2 bp maker and 6 bp taker, per KuCoin's fee page.

A market order pays the taker fee to open and again to close. That is 0 bp per round trip on a Lighter Standard account, 5.6 bp on Premium and 12 bp on KuCoin. A limit order that rests on the book pays the maker fee instead: 0 bp on Standard, 0.4 bp on Premium and 2 bp on KuCoin.

Fees are only part of a trade's cost. Slippage, the price you move by eating through the order book, grows with size. The cost table above adds both at each size from $1k to $5M, and every exchange's trading cost is compared on one page.

Markets and leverage

As of 1 October 2026 KuCoin lists 686 active perps, 159 of them stocks, commodities, FX or other real-world assets. Lighter lists 194, of which 75 are real-world assets.

KuCoin allows up to 125x and Lighter up to 50x on their highest-leverage markets; most markets allow less. Lighter pays funding every hour on every market. KuCoin pays every 1, 4 or 8 hours depending on the market, so check a market's interval before you hold it: an hourly market settles 24 times a day, an 8-hour market three times. The list further down this page shows the markets both exchanges have and each one's funding rate.

Who can use them

Lighter asks for no ID. The card deposit on-ramp is optional. Lighter is closed to the US, Canada, the UK, China, Russia, Ukraine and sanctioned countries. KuCoin requires standard KYC (ID and face check) for any product, a rule in place since Aug 2023.

Vaults, tokens and points

Lighter runs LLP (Lighter Liquidity Provider), a vault operated by the exchange. It makes markets and takes liquidations, so its depositors carry the traders' profit and loss. It takes USDC deposits, has no lock and charges no operator fee.

Lighter's token is $LIT, and as of 19 September 2026 its points program was in "Season 3". KuCoin's token is $KCS. Running points programs are listed separately.

Reading the numbers on this page

Both exchanges publish open interest as one side of open positions, so the open interest row and chart above compare like with like. That is not the case for every pair on arb.sh.

KuCoin publishes no TVL, as is usual for a centralized exchange, so the TVL row and chart show Lighter alone. Lighter's figure is DefiLlama's number for the deposits its bridge holds.

Which one fits you

• Pick Lighter if you want to keep funds in your own wallet and trade without ID.
• Pick Lighter if you trade with market orders and can accept the 300 ms taker delay of a Standard account: 0 bp taker against KuCoin's 6 bp.
• Pick Lighter if you want every market on an hourly funding schedule, or a USDC vault with no lock to deposit in.
• Pick KuCoin if you prefer an exchange account and accept ID and face verification.
• Pick KuCoin if you need more than 50x, up to 125x on its highest-leverage markets.
• Pick KuCoin if you want a wider list of perps: 686 markets, 159 of them real-world assets, as of 1 October 2026.