Circle collaborates with Lighter, making USDC the default stablecoin for its exchange

Lighter has reached a strategic cooperation with Circle, designating USDC as the default preferred stablecoin for its entire product line, with integration covering spot and perpetual contract trading, settlement, clearing, and user onboarding processes.

Circle stated on Tuesday on X that as on-chain markets expand, trusted dollar infrastructure is becoming core market infrastructure. Lighter responded that USDC has been the foundational asset for the protocol and its traders since its launch. This cooperation comes as Lighter attempts to regain market momentum following the token generation event in December last year, during which it briefly led perpetual contract DEX trading volume in November and December, but has since fallen behind Hyperliquid, Aster, and EdgeX.

According to DefiLlama data, Lighter currently ranks fourth with a 7-day perpetual contract trading volume of approximately $8.7 billion.