Aster Dominates DeFi Fee Race, Leaving Hyperliquid and Perp DEX Rivals in the Dust

Aster just flipped the DeFi fee game on its head—outpacing every major perpetual DEX including Hyperliquid to claim the throne.

The Fee Revolution

While traditional exchanges nickel-and-dime investors with hidden charges, Aster's transparent fee structure captures real value from actual usage. No synthetic volume tricks, no wash trading games—just pure protocol revenue that would make your traditional broker blush.

DeFi's New Cash Machine

The numbers don't lie: Aster's fee generation leaves competitors scrambling. In a space where most protocols struggle to demonstrate sustainable economics, Aster's performance suggests DeFi might finally be growing up—or at least learning to charge like the Wall Street veterans it claims to replace.

Another day, another DeFi protocol proving that in crypto, the real innovation often happens in the fee column.

Hyperliquid Triples Aster in Spot Volume, DefiLlama Data Shows

DefiLlama data shows Hyperliquid logged $477.3 million in spot trading volume, while Aster recorded $199.96 million, placing it 13th overall.

Notably, Aster does not yet appear on the aggregator’s daily revenue leaderboard.

Aster, previously known as APX Finance, rebranded in March after merging with Astherus. The platform is backed by YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs) and has built its presence on multi-chain support, with an initial focus on BNB Chain.

What sets Aster apart from other perpetual DEXs is its “hidden orders” feature, which allows traders to place completely invisible limit orders.

This deviates from the transparency of most on-chain order books and has caught the attention of users seeking stealth execution strategies.

The protocol saw a wave of new users following its token launch on September 17, during which its token price experienced a rapid surge.

Momentum picked up further when Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao endorsed the project on X, confirming that YZi Labs holds a minority stake.

“Few understand this,” Zhao posted. “Aster competes with Binance, but helps BNB.”

Few understand this.

Aster competes with @Binance, but helps #BNB. https://t.co/CmTSvVKUGR

Aster’s native token, ASTER, is currently trading at $1.89, down 1.76% over the past 24 hours.

The token now commands a fully diluted valuation of $15.1 billion, an impressive climb from its $560 million valuation at launch.

While volume and visibility metrics may vary, Aster’s spike in protocol fees positions it as a rising force in the on-chain derivatives space.

Aster Reimburses Traders After XPL Price Glitch Triggers Liquidations

On Friday, Aster reimbursed users in USDT after a sudden price spike in the XPL perpetual contract triggered forced liquidations.

The anomaly, which occurred during the transition from pre-launch to live trading, saw the price of XPL briefly surge to over $4, well above its $1.30 average on other platforms.

The exchange responded quickly, completing the first round of reimbursements within hours and compensating affected traders for liquidation and trading fees.

While the exact cause remains unconfirmed, early speculation points to a misconfigured index price or missing sync with live market data. Aster has pledged to continue its investigation into the incident.

The glitch followed the mainnet launch of Plasma, a stablecoin-focused LAYER 1 whose native token XPL rapidly hit a $12 billion valuation.

Despite the setback, Aster continues to gain momentum, recently surpassing Hyperliquid in daily perpetuals volume. Its unique “hidden orders” feature has also helped the platform stand out in a competitive market.