The new decentralized exchange Aster DEX has quickly become the talk of the crypto world over the past month.
Its native token, ASTER, has been one of the market’s most explosive performers since launching on September 19, soaring nearly 80× from its listing price to an all-time high of $2.42.
On Monday, Binance became the latest major exchange to list Aster, with the token already generating more than $184 million in daily spot trading volume.
Meanwhile, the Aster DEX platform itself has been equally impressive—recording over $2 trillion in total trading volume and attracting more than 3 million users to date. It has consistently outperformed Hyperliquid in daily trading volume; over the past 24 hours alone, Aster handled $32 billion, compared to Hyperliquid’s $9 billion.
Some users are drawn to Aster for its multi-chain trading capabilities, others for its 1001× leverage, and many for the airdrop rewards.
This review breaks down Aster’s key features, what’s driving its meteoric rise, and how it stacks up against Hyperliquid and other emerging perpetual futures exchanges such as CoinFutures.
What Is Aster DEX?
Aster DEX is a new decentralized exchange that combines the best elements of centralized and on-chain trading.
It was created in 2024 through the merger of two BNB Chain projects, Astherus and APX Finance, bringing together spot and perpetual trading under one platform. While Astherus brought multi-asset liquidity, APX contributed with a working decentralized perpetual trading protocol.
The goal was simple: to build a multi-chain DEX that delivers the speed, liquidity, and leverage of a CEX while keeping full on-chain transparency.
The project rose to prominence after being incubated by YZi Labs, a venture firm previously affiliated with Binance Labs. Aster’s core team includes several former Binance developers who helped shape its trading architecture and multi-chain design.
The exchange gained even more visibility when Changpeng Zhao (CZ) publicly endorsed it on social media, framing Aster as a next-generation DeFi project emerging from the BNB ecosystem. CZ claims that Aster DEX is just as much a competitor to Binance as it is to Hyperliquid.
Aster supports both spot and perpetual futures trading with leverage up to 1001x, alongside features like hidden orders to prevent front-running and yield-earning collateral to make idle assets productive. It operates across BNB Chain, Ethereum, Solana, and Arbitrum, offering flexibility unmatched by most competitors.
Aster DEX’s Unique Selling Points
Aster DEX has shot to fame on the backs of several impressive features.
Stealth Trading with Hidden Orders
One of Aster’s standout features is its hidden orders. Unlike standard limit orders on Hyperliquid that expose size and direction in the mempool, hidden orders let users place trades without revealing the specifics. This curbs front-running, sandwich attacks, and leaked order flow, an especially valuable edge in perpetual markets where MEV behaviour is rampant.
Optimistic Execution + Fraud Proofs and ZK Prospects
Aster uses an optimistic execution model where transactions are accepted by default and later verified; if someone spots an invalid batch, they submit fraud proofs to trigger correction.
By assuming correctness up front, Aster DEX allows high throughput and low latency. Future integration of zero-knowledge proofs aims to reduce the reliance on disputes and further enhance security and efficiency.
Multi-Chain Reach & Liquidity Aggregation
Unlike many DEXs tied to one blockchain, Aster supports trading across BNB Chain, Ethereum, Solana, and Arbitrum. That breadth allows liquidity and user flows from different ecosystems to converge in one place.
Traders don’t need to bridge assets manually; collateral and positions traverse chains natively. This multi-chain design also helps with arbitrage, cross-chain yield capture, and reduces single-chain congestion risks.
However, Aster DEX does have plans to launch its own chain, Aster Chain.
Extreme Leverage & Capital Efficiency
Aster supports leverage of up to 1001x on select markets, while allowing even spot and stock investments.
Moreover, it accepts both major stablecoins like USDT and USDC and native assets such as USFD, ASBNB, and ASUSD, giving traders more options to manage margin and risk.
Deposited collateral continues earning yield through Aster’s internal pools, allowing users to generate passive returns while maintaining leveraged positions. This mix of diverse collateral types, built-in yield, and ultra-high leverage makes Aster one of the most capital-efficient decentralized exchanges currently operating.
How Aster DEX Stacks Up To Hyperliquid?
It is not without reason that Aster DEX has surpassed Hyperliquid in trading volume. The new exchange does offer key advantages over Hyperliquid.
For starters, it supports major chains like BNB Chain, Ethereum, Solana, and Arbitrum, which allows it to draw liquidity and users across ecosystems rather than being confined to one.
Its hidden orders feature helps mask order size and direction until execution, helping protect traders from front-running and MEV attacks, a feature Hyperliquid lacks.
Aster also accepts a broad set of collateral types (including stablecoins and synthetic assets), which improves margin flexibility. Its vaults generate yield from collateral, so users aren’t forced to choose between passive staking and trading.
However, Hyperliquid also has several advantages over Aster.
It was first to market and has built a reputation for ultra-fast execution, thanks to its custom L1 infrastructure, which reportedly achieves sub-100 ms finality and handles high throughput with minimal latency.
Its order books are deep, and its fee structure is optimized for high-frequency trading. Hyperliquid’s tight spreads and stability under load attract professional volumes. Its CLOB model is battle-tested, which gives confidence in extreme volatility.
Best Perpetual Futures Decentralized Exchanges: Hyperliquid, Aster DEX and CoinFutures
While Aster DEX and Hyperliquid have captured attention with their huge volumes and advanced features, CoinFutures is quickly making its mark as a simpler yet powerful alternative. It brings the leverage and speed of a derivatives exchange without the technical hurdles that usually turn retail traders away.
Unlike Hyperliquid’s CLOB interface or Aster’s multi-chain complexity, CoinFutures runs entirely inside the CoinPoker app.
There’s no need to connect an external wallet or navigate gas fees, and onboarding is instant with no KYC required. Traders deposit directly into an internal CoinFutures wallet using crypto like BTC, ETH, USDT, SOL, BNB and USDC or fiat methods such as Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PIX.
CoinFutures stands out for its up to 1000x leverage, real-time bust price calculator, and built-in stop-loss and take-profit tools that make risk management simple.
Its Auto Mode and Close Bet features help traders lock in profits or exit losing trades automatically, a huge advantage in volatile markets.
While Aster and Hyperliquid focus on multi-chain liquidity or sub-second execution for professional traders, CoinFutures focuses on everyday users who want to speculate on price moves with as little friction as possible.
This mix of high leverage, intuitive design, and strong risk controls is why CoinFutures is rapidly emerging as one of the best perp decentralized exchanges on the market.
Visit CoinFutures
This article has been provided by one of our commercial partners and does not reflect Cryptonomist’s opinion. Please be aware that our commercial partners may use affiliate programs to generate revenue through the links in this article.