Under the expectation of an airdrop, is CZ's "nurtured" Perp DEX "Aster" worth participating in?
What does Aster have to surpass Hyperliquid?Author: momo, ChainCatcher
After Hyperliquid encountered a trust crisis, the war of Perp DEXs has reignited.
Some CEXs have also started to openly support their own ecological Perp DEXs. Recently, CZ has interacted multiple times with Aster on Twitter.
The BNB Chain has long lacked a representative DEX, and amidst the chaos of Perp DEXs, CZ's move to "nurture" his "favorite child" is quite evident. Aster is a project exclusively invested in and incubated by YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs), and is the leading Perp DEX on the BNB Chain.
Aster originated from the multi-asset liquidity protocol Astherus and the established derivatives exchange APX Finance. Both Astherus and APX Finance have received investments from YZi Labs. Astherus was also a project in YZi Labs' seventh incubation season. In December last year, Astherus and APX Finance announced a strategic merger and recently rebranded the platform to Aster.
With the surge in popularity of Perp DEXs, backed by Binance, Aster has recently made significant strides. Along with the rebranding, Aster has undergone a major update in its product positioning and product pages, and has restarted trading incentive programs to attract user participation.
Recently, Aster's Perp DEX ranking briefly climbed to second place, closely following Hyperliquid.
As new and old players flood in, the Perp DEX arena is becoming increasingly lively, and the landscape of the on-chain derivatives market is expected to be reshaped.
Rebranding, Aster Shifts to "Perp DEX"
Aster's predecessor, Astherus and APX Finance, were both star projects on the BNB Chain. This year, during CZ's exploration of on-chain DEXs, he has frequently mentioned and pointed out these two projects.
For example, CZ tweeted about using Astherus's DEX, and in March, on-chain analyst Ai Yi monitored that CZ used BNB to long Mubarak on APX Finance.
Astherus was established only last year and can be considered a dark horse on the BNB Chain. It was selected for YZi Labs' seventh incubation program in July last year and received exclusive investment from YZi Labs in November. Within just six months of its launch, Astherus's TVL exceeded $160 million and has now reached $300 million, showing rapid growth.
Astherus is positioned as a multi-asset liquidity hub, aiming to maximize the actual yield of crypto assets. It has launched several innovative products, such as the multi-strategy yield product AstherusEarn and the perpetual contract DEX AstherusEX.
On AstherusEarn, users can stake mainstream assets like BTC and BNB to earn yields, and they can also use the LST assets obtained for staking or derivatives trading to earn other DeFi yields.
By collaborating with CeFi institutions, Astherus utilizes AI-driven active yield strategy pools to generate income from both the crypto market and traditional finance, providing users with substantial real returns.
AstherusEX not only supports derivatives trading of mainstream assets like BTC but also allows staking and trading of LST (liquid staking tokens) and LRT (liquidity yield tokens).
Additionally, Astherus's yield stablecoin USDF has opened up a second yield curve for users in DeFi.
APX Finance, being more established, was once the largest decentralized derivatives protocol on the BNB Chain. Its business primarily focuses on providing on-chain perpetual contract trading based on liquidity providers (LPs), supporting multiple chains including BNB Chain, Arbitrum, opBNB, and Base. APX Finance is characterized by offering users up to 1001x leverage, zero slippage, and lower fees.
In addition to receiving support from YZi Labs, APX Finance has also collaborated multiple times with Binance Web3 Wallet.
Based on optimism for the decentralized derivatives market, after Astherus and APX Finance announced their merger into Aster, their business focus has significantly shifted towards Perp DEX.
Product Upgrade, Dual Modes Reshape Perp DEX
From the latest official website, Aster's entire UI/UX has undergone a major update. Aster is positioned as a multi-chain, highly liquid, and secure decentralized perpetual contract platform.
Aster has been deployed on several mainstream public chains, including BNB Chain, Arbitrum, Solana, and Ethereum.
Functionally, the "Trade" feature for perpetual contract trading is the primary focus. Additionally, Aster retains the multi-yield staking product "Earn" and the yield stablecoin USDF.
In terms of contracts, Aster introduces two trading modes: Simple and Pro.
The Simple mode is suitable for beginners and is easy to use. This mode relies on the ALP liquidity pool to ensure liquidity, supporting over 40 trading pairs of mainstream assets and popular meme coins; the maximum leverage of 1001x allows for zero slippage opening and no opening fees. Additionally, a simpler guessing product "dumb" has been introduced in the Simple mode to further lower the trading threshold.
The Pro mode is aimed at advanced traders. It employs an order book mechanism and supports more professional trading features such as grid trading. Users can enjoy deep liquidity and ultra-low fees (maker 0.01% / taker 0.035%) across multiple chains like BNB Chain and Arbitrum. This mode not only provides a low-cost and fast trading experience but also ensures users have self-managed funds without the need for KYC.
The dual-mode design retains the advantages of decentralized trading autonomy while providing a more precise trading experience for various users through differentiated feature settings.
Aster states that its goal is to create a professional contract platform with deep liquidity, low fees, and a smooth trading experience, challenging or even surpassing Hyperliquid's position.
What Makes Aster Capable of Surpassing Hyperliquid?
As a dark horse in this cycle, Hyperliquid, despite facing a trust crisis, still possesses formidable strength. Is it possible for Aster to surpass Hyperliquid?
First, looking at the potential space of the entire Perp DEX arena, Hyperliquid has indeed brought more market attention to the Perp DEX sector in this cycle, but the overall warming of Perp DEXs also stems from market demand.
Compared to centralized exchanges, Perp DEXs have a better coin listing effect. Additionally, with the development of Layer 2 and multi-chain ecosystems, Perp DEXs have seen significant improvements in trading speed and user experience.
According to a CoinGecko report, the total trading volume of the top ten decentralized perpetual contract exchanges in 2024 reached $1.5 trillion, more than double that of 2023.
However, despite the clear warming of decentralized perpetual contracts, they are still in the early stages of development. The total trading volume of the top ten decentralized perpetual contract exchanges in 2024 is only 2% of the total trading volume of the top ten centralized perpetual contract exchanges, indicating that the penetration rate of Perp DEXs is still low, with vast growth potential.
The landscape of the decentralized derivatives market is still undecided, and new and old players need to innovate and optimize across multiple dimensions such as product performance, experience, and community to capture user mindshare.
From a product perspective, what advantages does Aster have?
First is the lowest fees in the network. Aster's taker fee is only 0.03%, and the maker fee is as low as 0.01%, lower than Hyperliquid's adjusted 0.045% taker fee (effective from April 30, 2025). Additionally, Aster has introduced a VIP tier mechanism, where the larger the trading volume, the lower the fees, providing significant cost advantages for high-frequency and large-volume traders. Low fees have become a key competitive edge in attracting users, especially in high-frequency trading scenarios where cost savings are particularly evident.
Second is deep liquidity. Aster has partnered with top centralized exchanges' market makers, building a strong liquidity pool, with its bid-ask spread approaching that of Binance.
Third is product diversification. Aster's Simple and Pro modes cater to both novice and professional traders, meeting diverse user needs.
Moreover, Aster's Perp DEX has had liquidity and a user base from the start. The yield-generating products accumulated nearly $350 million in liquidity before the merger.
Recently, Aster's Perp DEX has shown explosive potential. According to Defillama data, Aster's ranking has remained stable in the top five, briefly climbing to second place, closely following Hyperliquid. Dune panel statistics show that Aster's total trading volume is about to surpass $400 billion, with approximately 750,000 total users and nearly 12,000 daily trading users, indicating a continuous rise in trading activity on its platform.
In the long term, Aster is also expanding its ecosystem products and product experience to respond to competition. According to its roadmap, it is set to launch a dedicated Layer 1, a blockchain explorer, and a mobile app to enhance user experience and decentralization, attracting more contract users.
In terms of ecosystem support, Aster is expected to benefit from the backing of the BNB Chain ecosystem. Following Hyperliquid's rise, various public chains, especially CEX public chains, will also support their own ecological DEXs to compete.
The Solana ecosystem has several phenomenal DEXs like Raydium and Jupiter, while the BNB Chain seems to lack a competitor of similar magnitude. With the rise of Perp DEXs, it is only natural for the BNB Chain to support its invested Aster.
What Participation Opportunities Do Users Have Under Airdrop Expectations?
Amidst the Perp DEX craze, Aster, as a representative player invested by YZi Labs, has become a popular project for yield farmers to participate in recently.
The trading incentive program recently restarted by Aster may indicate that the TGE is imminent.
From the official documentation, the user incentive mechanism is currently in Stage 1: Spectra phase. Its points system is divided into Au points and Rh points, which can serve as distribution certificates for future $AST airdrops.
To earn Au points, users can mint and hold Aster Earn-related assets (such as ALP, USDF, LP Token).
To earn Rh points, users primarily gain them by trading perpetual contracts in Aster's Pro mode:
By trading in Pro mode, users can earn Rh points, which can be redeemed for future $AST airdrop rewards, providing continuous incentives for active platform supporters and traders.
Users can invite friends and form teams to enjoy up to 1.2 times Rh Points bonuses together.
The platform has recently launched a trading activity reward of $50,000 every two weeks, providing additional bonuses on top of the points earned through trading.
For early participants, Aster also offers support through adjustments to trading fees and rebate plans. For instance, Aster's recently launched VIP tier plan allows users with larger trading volumes to enjoy lower expected fees; the upcoming referral rebate tier plan similarly increases the rebate ratio for referrers based on the trading volume of their referrals.
Conclusion
In summary, Aster, as part of the Binance ecosystem, has strong ecological support and advantages such as low fees, making it likely to secure a place in the decentralized perpetual contract market. However, to replace Hyperliquid, Aster needs to continuously strengthen its brand recognition, technological maturity, and market acceptance.
As the Perp DEX market continues to heat up, competition will become increasingly fierce, and the rivalry between Aster and Hyperliquid will drive the development of the entire industry.
