Aster Leads DeFi Fee Rankings, Overtaking Hyperliquid and Other Perpetual DEXs

Aster Tops DeFi Fees Chart, Outpacing Hyperliquid and Other Perp DEXs

Aster, a decentralized perpetual exchange, has rapidly climbed to the top of DefiLlama’s protocol fee rankings, amassing over $25 million in fees in just 24 hours. Its success outpaces competitors like Hyperliquid, even as it faces challenges in trading volume.

Key Takeaways:

Aster achieved over $25 million in daily fees, far exceeding competitors such as Hyperliquid.
Despite its relatively lower trading volume, Aster is quickly gaining traction due to its innovative "hidden orders" feature and a recent token launch.
Valued at $15.1 billion post-rebranding and token debut, Aster has garnered support from YZi Labs and acknowledgment from Binance’s Changpeng Zhao.

Aster has taken the lead in DeFi protocol fees, far surpassing other platforms, including Hyperliquid, which reported only $3.17 million in fees during the same timeframe. However, Hyperliquid remains ahead of Aster in daily trading volume.

Hyperliquid Outperforms Aster in Trading Volume

According to data from DefiLlama, Hyperliquid recorded a remarkable $477.3 million in spot trading volume, while Aster achieved $199.96 million, placing it 13th overall in the rankings. Aster is not yet reflected in the aggregator’s daily revenue leaderboard.

Previously known as APX Finance, Aster rebranded in March after merging with Astherus. Supported by YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs), it aims to establish its presence across multiple chains, beginning with the BNB Chain.

A standout feature of Aster is its "hidden orders," allowing traders to place limit orders that remain entirely invisible, diverging from the transparency typical of most on-chain order books. This innovative approach has captured the interest of traders seeking stealthy execution strategies.

Following its token launch on September 17, Aster attracted many new users, and the token price surged rapidly. The growing interest intensified when Changpeng Zhao, co-founder of Binance, endorsed the exchange via X, noting that YZi Labs possesses a minority stake in Aster.

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

Currently, Aster's native token, ASTER, trades at $1.89, reflecting a decrease of 1.76% in the last 24 hours. This puts Aster at a fully diluted valuation of $15.1 billion, a significant increase from its initial valuation of $560 million during its launch.

While various metrics indicate fluctuations in volume and visibility, Aster's surge in protocol fees highlights its rising influence in the on-chain derivatives market.

Aster Compensates Traders Following XPL Price Anomaly

On Friday, Aster took action to reimburse users in USDT after an abrupt price spike in the XPL perpetual contract caused forced liquidations. This price anomaly occurred as Aster shifted from pre-launch to live trading, temporarily pushing the price of XPL above $4, significantly deviating from its $1.30 average on other platforms.

The exchange acted swiftly, completing reimbursements for affected traders within hours, covering both liquidation and trading fees. While the precise cause of the anomaly is still unclear, initial reports suggest a misconfigured index price or a lack of synchronization with live market data. Aster remains committed to investigating the incident further.

This glitch followed the mainnet launch of Plasma, a Layer 1 stablecoin focused platform, which saw its native token, XPL, rapidly reach a $12 billion valuation. Despite this setback, Aster is gaining ground, recently overtaking Hyperliquid in daily perpetual trading volume, with its unique "hidden orders" feature providing a competitive edge in the market.