"Once TGE happens, who in the world doesn't know Aster?" If you were to ask what the hottest project has been in the past two weeks, Aster should be everyone's first response.
With a substantial community airdrop of 53.5%, an issuance price of $0.03, and a surge of 400% within hours of TGE, Aster has created remarkable gains in just 5 days: peaking at 81 times to $2.4359 ATH, and currently maintaining a 63 times increase to $1.9. This is the most explosive token TGE of the year, without a doubt.
While most Perp DEXs are still imitating Hyperliquid with little innovation, how has Aster secured an increasingly important market position through differentiated technology and product strategies?
What Makes Aster Different?
Aster's development journey reflects the team's keen sense of market opportunities and execution capabilities. The project was initially called Astherus, primarily focusing on liquidity for staked assets, entering perpetual contract trading and DeFi mining strategies through its two products, AstherusEx and AstherusEarn.
The real turning point came on March 31, 2024, when Astherus completed a strategic merger with APX to upgrade to Aster, shifting the project from a staking liquidity protocol to the grander goal of being the "ultimate form of Perp DEX."
The team understands that in today's rapidly developing on-chain perpetual contract trading environment, a single product model cannot meet the diverse needs of different users. Therefore, they innovatively launched a dual-mode trading system called "1001x" and "Perpetual."
The 1001x mode is designed to lower the barriers to on-chain trading, utilizing a fully on-chain perpetual contract format. By connecting to external ALP liquidity pools, it provides a simplified trading experience. Users do not need complex chart analysis; they can complete trades with just a tap, supporting up to 1001 times leverage on the BTCUSD trading pair, covering a rich array of asset classes including cryptocurrencies, forex, and popular meme coins. This mode is compatible with both BNB Chain and Arbitrum networks, providing a no-threshold entry for novice users into on-chain trading.
The Perpetual mode, on the other hand, targets professional traders, employing an on-chain order book mechanism equipped with deep liquidity, real-time data, and advanced trading tools. Users participating in the Beta test can directly access Aster Chain to experience the latest privacy trading features and high-performance trading environment. This mode not only meets the demands of professional traders for deep liquidity and precise price control but also provides practical testing scenarios for the platform's technological innovations.
Even more innovatively, Aster has introduced a "Dumb" prediction mode, allowing users to make prediction trades based on minute-level asset price fluctuations. This novel trading method not only enriches the platform's functionality matrix but, more importantly, provides a new way for users who enjoy short-term speculation but lack professional trading skills to participate in the market.
In terms of deep integration with the BNB ecosystem, Aster demonstrates strategic foresight. As a project fully invested by YZi Labs, Aster has not only received strong support in terms of technology and funding but, more importantly, has gained access to the core circle of the Binance ecosystem. The multiple interactions between CZ and the Aster team, along with the project's ranking of 13th in the BNB Chain official DappBay portal, fully reflect its important position within the BNB ecosystem. Related reading: "CZ's Frequent Interactions: How Aster Breaks Through as the 'Top Perp DEX of BNB'"
A Complete Trading and Financial Cycle
In the fierce competition of Perp DEXs, product richness and business closure capabilities are also key factors determining success or failure. One of Aster's layouts in this regard is the "Trade & Earn" feature, which builds a truly integrated trading and financial ecosystem for users.
Leveraging its previous focus on liquidity for staked assets, the core product of Aster's "Trade & Earn" feature is the USDF, a yield-bearing stablecoin. USDF is a yield-generating stablecoin launched by Aster, fully backed and redeemable at a 1:1 ratio with USDT.
Users can earn USDF rewards in two ways. The first is through deposit rewards; as long as your trading account holds more than 1 USDF, you can enjoy this yield. The second is through trading rewards, which require users to be active for at least 2 days a week and have a weekly trading volume exceeding 2000 USDT.
The reward distribution mechanism is also very user-friendly; all rewards from the previous week are uniformly distributed in USDF every week and automatically transferred to your trading account. Users do not need to operate manually; the earnings will be automatically reinvested.
The real highlight lies in the usage scenarios during trading. Users can directly deposit USDF into their trading accounts as margin for contract trading while still earning USDF rewards. This creates a positive cycle of "the more you trade, the more you earn": user trading generates fee income for the platform, which returns part of the earnings to users in the form of USDF rewards, while the USDF held by users also generates earnings.
The cleverness of this design fundamentally changes the cost structure of traditional trading. On other platforms, trading is purely a cost; once the fees are paid, they are gone. But on Aster, active trading not only earns trading rewards, but the USDF used as margin also continues to generate earnings, effectively reducing the opportunity cost of trading, and in some cases, even covering trading fees.
As a delta-neutral yield stablecoin, USDF further anchors the TVL of BNB Chain, creating a self-circulating liquidity ecosystem. This design significantly enhances capital efficiency, allowing users to bridge asBNB yield tokens and USDF stablecoins to Aster Chain as collateral, and then reinvest in Aster Earn to obtain compound earnings.
Stock Perpetual Contracts
Among mainstream Perp DEXs, Aster is currently the only platform offering stock trading.
We all know that in traditional financial markets, stock trading is subject to many restrictions, including strict trading time windows, limited leverage ratios, and cumbersome account opening processes. Aster's stock perpetual contract feature helps solve this problem, providing users with unprecedented trading freedom.
This feature covers tech giants like Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia, as well as popular stocks like Tesla and Amazon, and includes innovative assets such as the Nasdaq 100 Index ETF and RWA token ONDO Finance. Each contract supports up to 50 times leverage, which is virtually impossible in traditional stock trading, as the US FINRA Reg-T typically limits leverage to within 2 times.
During normal trading hours for US stocks, the platform provides the deepest liquidity and a normal price fluctuation environment; during non-trading hours, the system ensures market stability through intelligent risk control mechanisms, limiting excessive volatility while keeping the order book open. This means that even during holidays, traders can still conduct round-the-clock opening and closing operations.
In terms of the settlement mechanism, Aster adopts USDT instant settlement, completely freeing itself from the constraints of traditional stock market T+2 delivery. Traders do not need to go through cumbersome broker account opening and KYC processes; they can start trading with just a crypto wallet. Crypto-native users can easily gain exposure to the Nasdaq 100 Index without needing to open a traditional securities account.
Deep Integration with the BNB Ecosystem
As a staking asset liquidity protocol originally part of the BNB ecosystem, Aster already had many BNB ecosystem resources before upgrading to a decentralized perpetual contract trading platform. Therefore, Aster's close cooperation with the BNB ecosystem is one of its biggest characteristics.
In terms of infrastructure deployment, Aster's DEX contracts, yield vault Aster Earn, and various liquidity staking products are all deployed on the BNB Smart Chain. Currently, the platform ranks 13th in the BNB Chain official DappBay portal, thanks to its active contributions and deep integration within the BNB ecosystem.
The asBNB liquidity staking derivatives are a typical embodiment of this integration, providing users with liquidity staking yields while automatically compounding Binance Launchpool and Megadrop rewards. USDF, as a delta-neutral yield stablecoin, further anchors the TVL of BNB Chain, creating a self-circulating liquidity ecosystem. This design significantly enhances capital efficiency, allowing users to bridge asBNB yield tokens and USDF stablecoins to Aster Chain as collateral, and then reinvest in Aster Earn to obtain compound earnings. Aster's Binance Launchpool and Megadrop are realized through cooperation with another major DeFi infrastructure of the BNB ecosystem, Lista DAO.
Additionally, Aster is one of the projects launched in the first phase of CMC Launch, a startup platform created by CoinMarketCap specifically for Pre-TGE projects. Notably, when the AI-based on-chain identity verification and credit scoring platform Creditlink launched the CDL token presale for Four.Meme, the CDL liquidity pool was also simultaneously available on Aster DEX and PancakeSwap.
There are numerous examples of Aster's collaboration with BNB ecosystem projects, maximizing the attraction of native users from the BNB ecosystem.
Aster L1 and Zero-Knowledge Proofs: A Culmination of Technological Innovation
On June 1, CZ published a tweet about dark pools, suggesting "now might be a good time to launch a dark pool perp DEX," pointing out that the transparency of real-time public orders on DEXs could lead to MEV attacks, thereby harming traders' interests. CZ's topic quickly sparked market discussions about privacy and efficiency issues in cryptocurrency trading.
Twenty days later, Aster quickly launched the Hidden Order feature, achieving a true hidden order functionality.
The scale, price, direction, and even existence of orders are completely concealed, executing only when matched with a counterparty. This design of privacy orders eliminates the risk of front-running while providing sufficient privacy protection. By innovatively enhancing privacy, the system maintains high liquidity while ensuring that sensitive information such as traders' positions, profits and losses, and liquidation points are not disclosed. This technological implementation allows Aster to offer institutional-level privacy protection, which is extremely rare in the current decentralized exchange ecosystem.
The practical value of this privacy protection mechanism is particularly prominent in high-risk trading scenarios. Referring to the case of well-known trader James Wynn on Hyperliquid, who suffered a loss of $1.75 million due to the visibility of his $1.2 billion BTC long position, Aster's hidden order feature can effectively conceal liquidation points, deterring malicious "hunting" behavior and providing a safer trading environment for large capital traders.
On this basis, Aster has applied zero-knowledge proofs to the Aster L1 public chain.
Starting from the private Beta phase launched on June 7, 2025, this public chain has already demonstrated impressive technical performance metrics. It achieves a block time of only 50 milliseconds and an execution finality of 10 milliseconds, a performance level that is top-tier even by current blockchain technology standards. Laboratory tests show that its peak TPS can exceed 150,000, providing strong technical support for high-frequency trading scenarios.
The architecture of this public chain adopts an innovative model with a multi-node built-in order book, where order intentions are recorded on-chain, while matching and settlement are executed off-chain. Subsequently, user positions and assets are verified on-chain through Brevis zero-knowledge proofs, ensuring the safe exit of user assets after on-chain verification. This design guarantees both efficiency and the maintenance of the core principle of decentralization.
Aster L1 supports cross-chain transfers from multiple public chains, including Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Solana, providing users with greater flexibility. While user order behaviors are recorded on-chain, positions and assets are stored on-chain only in the form of zero-knowledge proofs, effectively protecting traders' position and profit and loss privacy.
Data Speaks: Aster's Real Performance
According to the latest data on Dune, Aster has shown remarkable growth across several key indicators. The total locked value (TVL) has reached $1.467 billion, fully reflecting the project's capital attractiveness and market recognition. Even more impressive is the cumulative trading volume, which has surpassed $923.8 billion. This figure not only reflects the platform's trading activity but also indicates a high level of user stickiness and trust. In terms of user scale, the platform has accumulated a total of 3.057 million users, laying a solid foundation for the project's long-term development. The protocol's cumulative revenue stands at $1.194 billion, strongly proving the effectiveness of the platform's profit model.
From the perspective of short-term data changes, Aster is also in a rapid growth phase. The TVL increased by $12.06 million within 24 hours and by $601 million over 7 days, showcasing a continuous and stable influx of capital that reflects market confidence. User growth is equally strong, with 33,100 new users in 24 hours and 1,107,000 new users over 7 days, demonstrating the platform's powerful user acquisition capability. Daily revenue remains stable at $25.209 million, with 7-day revenue reaching $90.936 million, providing ample financial support for the platform's ongoing operations.
In terms of product TVL distribution, the platform demonstrates a good diversified layout. The USDF stablecoin, with a scale of $3.548 billion, has become the largest single product, reflecting users' strong demand for yield-bearing stablecoins. The asBNB product contributes $3.496 billion, showcasing the value of the platform's deep integration with the BNB ecosystem. Other products, including asBTC ($1.345 million), asUSDF ($21.456 million), and asCAKE ($212,000), form a complete diversified product matrix, providing rich choices for users with different risk preferences.
Trading data further confirms the platform's strong performance. The total trading volume of $923.8 billion shows good consistency, and the scale of 819,800 traders demonstrates the platform's strong appeal in the perpetual contract trading field. The $2.599 billion in open contracts reflects a highly active market state.
Recent trading data is particularly impressive. The 24-hour trading volume reached $83.16 billion, with 74,400 active traders and daily revenue of $25.209 million, showcasing the platform's operational robustness. The 7-day data further confirms the growth trend: trading volume of $2.77 trillion, 140,800 traders, and revenue of $90.936 million.
By building a privacy-first technology stack and a diversified product line, Aster has carved out a differentiated path in the fiercely competitive perpetual DEX space, distinctly different from Hyperliquid. This differentiation is not only reflected in the choice of technical architecture but also deeply rooted in strategic thinking regarding user needs and market positioning.
As a platform focused on privacy protection and multi-asset trading, Aster's core innovations revolve around several key dimensions: all-weather stock perpetual contract trading, a zero-knowledge proof-based hidden order system, a native mobile application experience, and an innovative yield-bearing collateral mechanism. The integration of these features makes Aster not just a simple derivatives trading platform but a comprehensive financial infrastructure that bridges traditional finance and decentralized finance.
The profit model has been fully validated by the market, with a total protocol revenue of $51.85 million and a continuous stable growth in daily revenue, strongly proving the sustainability of Aster's business model and its long-term value creation capability. The product diversification strategy has achieved significant results, as evidenced by the diverse TVL distribution of the Earn product line, clearly showing that Aster has successfully built a complete product ecosystem that meets the needs of users with different risk preferences.
For users looking to participate in the construction of the Aster ecosystem, new opportunities will also arise. Aster Genesis Stage 2 will end on October 5 at 23:59 UTC, with 2 cycles remaining, allowing users to still earn Rh points through trading. 4% of the total supply (i.e., 320 million $ASTER) is specifically allocated for Stage 2 rewards, and the scale of this reward pool is valued at over $32 million at the current presale price, providing considerable earnings when distributed among active users.
After Stage 2 ends, Stage 3 will immediately launch, introducing a spot trading scoring mechanism and a brand new reward system. From the project's pacing arrangements, it is evident that the reward mechanisms for each stage are continuously optimized and upgraded, often allowing early participants to receive more generous returns. This also marks Aster's evolution from a DEX focused on perpetual contracts to a fully functional trading platform.
Overall, these data provide strong support for Aster's investment value at a $2.3 billion FDV valuation level, laying a solid foundation for its advantageous position in the increasingly competitive DeFi market. Among numerous Perp DEX projects, Aster is making a strong impact on the Perp DEX space through unique technological innovations and product strategies.
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