Original Title: "Starting with a 1650% Price Surge, Is Aster Taking Over Hyperliquid's Narrative Torch?"

Original Author: Dang Dang

Original Source: Odaily Planet Daily

In a recent TGE project, Aster undoubtedly stood out. The ASTER token caused a sensation on its launch day: the 24-hour total trading volume surpassed 345 million USD, starting at $0.03015 and soaring to $0.528, marking a staggering 1,650% daily increase. This performance not only caught the market's attention but also drew praise from CZ, who stated, "Well done! A good start, keep building!" Behind such a strong start, it is worth asking: What gives Aster the confidence to achieve this?

Aster is backed by YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs) and is expected to be the next-generation Perp DEX on the BNB Chain. Looking across the entire crypto industry, Hyperliquid has already proven to the market through its astounding trading volume and capital capacity that decentralized perpetual contracts are no longer a financial experiment for small funds but a battlefield capable of accommodating huge capital.

However, turning to the BNB Chain, a public chain known for its large user base and activity, it has yet to produce a flagship perpetual contract platform that represents its ecosystem. This gap is precisely where Aster comes in. It is both a response to the Hyperliquid model and a fill for the derivatives ecosystem gap on the BNB Chain, attempting to open up its own path in on-chain finance.

This assertion is not unfounded. Data from defillama.com shows that Aster has ranked first in contract trading volume on the BNB Chain in the past 30 days. Its total on-chain lock-up value has exceeded 1.8 billion USD, with an annualized income of over 60 million USD and an annual income growth rate approaching 700%. Behind these numbers, it signifies that Aster has not only achieved product experience and liquidity moat but has also initially established a strong foothold in user retention and revenue models. Aster is rapidly ascending to become a core node in the BNB Chain ecosystem.

Aster Overview: The Next-Generation Derivatives Platform in the Binance Narrative

In fact, in the decentralized derivatives arena, Aster is not a completely new player without a foundation but rather a product of long-term accumulation and integration. Its predecessor can be traced back to Astherus and APX Finance, the former being a multi-asset liquidity protocol and the latter deeply involved in decentralized perpetual contracts. Both were star projects in the BNB Chain ecosystem and both received investment support from YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs).

By the end of 2024, the two major projects joined forces, completing a merger and integrating their technology, resources, and community advantages to make a "comeback in perpetual contract arena" with a "veteran in a new posture." On March 31, 2025, they officially debuted under a new identity, Aster. This merger was not only a rebranding but also marked a clear direction for their development: transitioning from a singular perpetual contract trading platform to a comprehensive derivative platform with an ecosystem map and product matrix.

It is worth noting that Aster's development trajectory inherently carries the "Binance lineage." The deep support of YZi Labs gives it a differentiated advantage at the strategic, traffic, and capital levels. In contrast to other similar DEXs often struggling to find liquidity and users in the cold start phase, Aster leveraged the natural entry point of the BNB Chain ecosystem to start from a higher position.

Within the Binance user base, Aster's identity label is even a trust credential. For many users transitioning from the Binance trading platform to DeFi in large numbers, Aster's barrier to entry is much lower than that of unfamiliar projects. This "traffic dividend" resulting from psychological inertia means that it has a natural first-mover advantage in user acquisition and ecosystem penetration.

Therefore, Aster is not just "another perpetual DEX" but more like a missing piece in the BNB Chain ecosystem puzzle. Its strategic significance lies not only at the individual product level but may also become an important carrier point for the extension of the Binance DeFi narrative.

Aster's Product Matrix: From Core Contracts to Multi-tier Ecosystem

If the merger and rebranding gave Aster a clearer identity, its true competitive edge lies in the diversification of its product matrix and ecosystem map. Unlike many Perp DEXes that break through in a single point, Aster seems to be attempting to expand outward from "contract trading" as the core, gradually building a multi-tier product matrix and ecosystem map.

Core Product: Aster Pro Perpetual Contract

At the product matrix level, Aster's foundation remains perpetual contract trading. Its core product is Aster Pro, which is a perpetual contract trading system based on an order book model. Unlike most AMM-type Perp DEX, Aster Pro, through a specialized matching engine and order book mechanism, can provide users with depth and liquidity closer to a centralized trading platform while maintaining transparency and self-custody on-chain. This means that users can not only enjoy low slippage, precise price trading experience but also avoid centralized custody risks.

The core design of Aster Pro lies in its flexible margin system and risk management tools. It supports both Single-asset Mode and Multi-asset Mode, providing different types of traders with differentiated choices.

Single-asset mode means that the margin is limited to USDT only, suitable for users who prefer a simple structure. Furthermore, positions are independent of each other, with PnL calculated separately, resulting in stronger risk isolation, closely resembling the isolated margin logic of centralized trading platforms. Multi-asset mode accepts mainstream assets such as BTC, ETH, BNB, as well as re-collateralized assets (SlisBNB, asBNB, etc.) as collateral, and all positions can share collateral, with PnL between positions being able to hedge in real-time, making capital utilization more efficient. The system supports automatic asset rebalancing; when any asset is insufficient, it automatically converts other assets through the matching engine to make up for it, without additional fees.

This dual-margin system provides users with a professional and flexible contract trading experience. This not only reduces the experiential gap between on-chain and CEX but also provides DeFi traders with a higher level of fund management and strategic implementation space, allowing users to choose according to their risk preferences.

Stock Perpetuals

Aster Pro has also pioneered Stock Perpetuals, opening up new horizons for decentralized trading platforms. Unlike conventional DEXs that can only trade crypto assets, Aster allows users to directly trade stock perpetual contracts on-chain based on USDT collateral. The first trading pair launched is AAPL/USDT (Apple stock contract), allowing users to engage in long and short operations with up to 50x leverage, with positions and PnL all settled in USDT, and index prices provided by the Pyth Oracle and multi-source data feeds to ensure transparent and fair pricing.

This innovation is not only a reconstruction of traditional financial products on-chain but also provides a new asset allocation channel for crypto traders and global investors. The launch of AAPL/USDT can be seen as Aster's starting point in exploring the on-chain capital market, with its potential extending far beyond a new trading pair, potentially heralding the embryonic form of a unified trading platform for stocks, crypto, and RWA assets in the future.

Ecosystem Matrix

Aster's ecosystem is not limited to the smart contract market; the spot and pre-market trading markets are also part of it. Aster has introduced a Centralized Limit Order Book (CLOB) mechanism, combining the matching depth of CEX with the self-custody advantage of DEX. On September 7, 2025, Aster officially launched the spot market and deepened its cooperation with Four.meme, a representative incubation platform on the BNB Chain. The first batch of projects to go live covers Creditlink (CDL), which recently set a new high in fundraising on Four.meme. Of particular note, Four.meme has long focused on early-stage investment and continuous support for on-chain innovation projects, and through the BNB Guardians program, it introduces funds and community support for new assets. This collaboration signifies the deep integration of Four.meme's incubation advantage with Aster's trading ecosystem, building a complete ecosystem cycle from incubation, funding to actual trading within the BNB Chain.

In addition, stablecoins are also one of Aster's key products. Through the dual-layer design of USDF and asUSDF, Aster introduces liquidity into its ecosystem. On the one hand, USDF, as a fully collateralized stablecoin, freely exchanges with USDT at a 1:1 ratio. Its design aims to attract and leverage USDT liquidity while using decentralized finance (DeFi) strategies to create additional user returns. On the other hand, asUSDF provides staking derivative returns, further extending into DeFi application scenarios. This means that users can not only complete perpetual and spot trading within Aster but also achieve efficient asset circulation through stablecoins.

Roadmap: Comprehensive Upgrade of Infrastructure and Ecosystem

By the end of 2024, Astherus officially merged with APX Finance, completing the integration of resources and technology. This step laid the foundation for subsequent product upgrades, marking the re-entry of the new Aster into the market. On April 10, 2025, Aster initiated the first phase of the Aster Spectra plan, where users could earn Rh points through trading and unlock ASTER airdrop qualifications. The event concluded successfully on June 22, with 527,224 unique wallets generating over $37.7 billion in trading volume within 20 weeks, allowing Aster to gain nearly 20% of the decentralized smart contract market's monthly trading volume share in just a few months. This not only brought initial user engagement to Aster but also warmed up its tokenomics launch.

Today, Aster conducted its TGE on September 17th. As the ASTER token is currently only supported for spot trading on Aster DEX, this platform has become the sole entry point for funds and users. As a result, within 24 hours, the platform's daily TVL surged from $6.6 billion to $10.05 billion, with a daily total trading volume of nearly $15 billion, and the number of new independent wallet addresses exceeded 330,000.

Currently, the Aster Genesis Phase 2 has been launched, allowing users to trade and earn Rh points on Aster Pro for Phase 2 rewards.

If the short term is characterized by the "dual-wheel drive of product and users," then the long-term vision is a comprehensive upgrade of infrastructure and ecosystem.

Launch of Aster Chain: In its future plans, Aster aims to develop a dedicated chain focused on high-performance derivatives to bring greater autonomy and scalability to Aster. Build the Aster financial ecosystem: Around Aster DEX, gradually expand to stablecoins, RWA, and other financial products, forming a relatively complete financial ecosystem. Become a pillar of BNB Chain perpetual trading: Aster's ultimate vision is to emulate Hyperliquid and become a representative protocol for BNB Chain perpetual contract trading, even a key piece in Binance's DeFi strategy.

In other words, Aster's development path is clear: from a single product to an ecosystem matrix, from BNB Chain infrastructure to a cross-market financial platform. Its narrative is not just a Perp DEX but an impact on the on-chain derivative market landscape.

Track Analysis: The "Second Half" of On-Chain Derivatives

Track Overview

In the crypto financial market, perpetual contracts are one of the most representative products. Compared to the spot market, they offer features such as high leverage, no expiration date, and a funding rate mechanism, making them a core tool for traders for hedging, speculation, and arbitrage. At the centralized exchange level, the trading volume of perpetual contracts is almost 5 times that of spot trading, almost serving as the "traffic engine" of the crypto market.

With the rise of the decentralized wave, the demand for asset self-management and transparent settlement has continued to grow, making Perp DEX a new growth point. The logic behind it is to migrate derivative trading, which previously relied on centralized matching and clearing, to the chain, using smart contracts and oracles to handle matching, clearing, and funding rate settlement. This not only reduces centralized risk but also provides users with greater freedom.

More importantly, as Layer 2 scaling and cross-chain interoperability mature, the user experience gap of on-chain derivatives is narrowing. For example, dYdX approaches the experience of a CEX through an order book model, and GMX's GLP pool provides users with a new gameplay of "liquidity provision mining." In other words, the perpetual contract competition has entered the second half: transitioning from "proving feasibility" to "competing on efficiency, depth, and ecosystem synergy."

Perpetual DEX Market Landscape

Looking at the overall market, on-chain perpetual trading is still in a rapidly growing uptrend. According to the 2025 Q2 Industry Report published by Coingecko, the total quarterly trading volume of the top ten decentralized perpetual contract trading platforms (Perp DEX) reached $898 billion, an 11.3% increase from Q1's $806.6 billion, setting a new all-time high.

However, what is more noteworthy is that in the Top 10 list, only four platforms, Hyperliquid, Aster, RabbitX, and edgeX, recorded growth, with Aster's performance being particularly outstanding. With the launch of Aster Pro, its quarterly trading volume doubled compared to the previous quarter, quickly becoming one of the fastest-growing newcomers in the industry.

In stark contrast, the former leader dYdX has seen a continuous decline in trading volume, with an average monthly trading volume of only $5.3 billion in Q2, less than half of the volume at the beginning of the year. This pattern of shifting fortunes highlights the market validation that the new generation of Perp DEX platforms, represented by Aster, is receiving.

Aster's Differentiated Advantage

In the increasingly competitive on-chain derivatives market, standing out is the test that Aster must face. Currently, Aster's advantage lies not in superficial "faster growth" or "more users," but in the fact that it has built a differentiated moat.

(1) Product Diversification, Breaking Through a Single Track Ceiling

Most Perp DEXes are still stuck in the single track of crypto perpetual contracts, while Aster is attempting to build its own ecosystem by opening up new frontiers through stock perpetual contracts. This can not only serve native crypto users but also potentially cater to cross-border demand from traditional markets, a dimension untouched by other similar projects.

（2）Technical Architecture and User Experience Advantage

On the user experience front, Aster's order book model narrows the gap in experience between on-chain and CEX. The flexible single/multi-asset margin mechanism satisfies both newbie users' risk isolation needs and professional traders' capital efficiency pursuits. This "best of both worlds" design expands Aster's target user base and enhances the platform's scalability.

（3）Strategic Depth and Narrative Space

A deep integration with YZi Labs provides Aster with a triple advantage of funds, technology, and traffic. The ecological linkage with BNB Chain also naturally endows Aster with cold-start traffic and market awareness, creating a unique trust moat in the fiercely competitive early stages. In the long run, Aster's goal is not to stop at being a "Perp DEX on the BNB Chain" but to move towards a higher level of strategic depth through the launch of Aster Chain and the expansion of the financial ecosystem. Externally, it can accommodate cross-chain traffic and traditional market demands; internally, it will become the core infrastructure of the BNB Chain derivatives market. In other words, Aster is not just a follower in the race but is attempting to reshape the entire on-chain derivatives competition landscape.

In the decentralized derivatives track, the key to competition is no longer "validating the model" but "who can establish barriers to entry in efficiency and ecosystem." Aster's emergence is not only a filler of the gap in the BNB Chain derivatives market but also a narrative representative of this round of race evolution. Through a diversified product matrix, it seeks to build a broader prototype of the on-chain financial market.

In the future, whether Aster can truly become the "pillar" of the BNB Chain perpetual contract or even move towards cross-chain financial infrastructure remains to be seen. What can be certain is that it has posed a new proposition for the industry: the second half of decentralized derivatives competition is not only about trading experience but also about ecosystem synergy and narrative depth.

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