ASTER Plummets 75% to New Lows as Hyperliquid Grows — Is the Perpetual DEX Competition Over?

A notable sell-off in Aster's token is shedding light on the decentralized perpetual trading market, even as overall derivatives trading remains historically robust.

Key Takeaways

ASTER has experienced a significant decline of roughly 75%, trading near new lows as of this week.
Hyperliquid is emerging as the leading platform in the perpetual decentralized exchange (DEX) market.
A spike in trading volume indicates short-term trading activity rather than a recovery in confidence among investors.
Aster's Strategic Buyback Reserve aims to support its token amidst concerns over upcoming unlocks.
The decentralized exchange space is witnessing a growing divide between successful platforms and those struggling to maintain user interest.

Aster's Decline Amidst Hyperliquid's Surge

Recently, ASTER was trading around $0.62, marking a more than 13% drop in just 24 hours. This downturn follows weeks of persistent decline, with the token down over 11% in the last week and nearly 74% beneath its all-time high of $2.41.

Aster Token Decline

As the sell-off unfolded, trading volume soared, increasing by over 300% to exceed $300 million within 24 hours. This surge in activity signals heightened short-term trading rather than a resurgence of investor confidence.

Data from DefiLlama indicates that the overall sector continues to thrive, with cumulative perpetual trading volume surpassing $803 billion over 30 days. In the last 24 hours alone, total trading volume was nearly $19.9 billion, while open interest reached about $20.6 billion.

Trading Volume Data

Market data shows that Hyperliquid is gaining momentum in both trading volume and open interest, two areas traders often evaluate differently. In the past week, Hyperliquid handled approximately $40.7 billion in perpetual futures volume, while Aster recorded around $31.7 billion and Lighter roughly $25.3 billion.

The gap becomes even more evident regarding open interest, which indicates traders' willingness to maintain leveraged positions. Hyperliquid reported about $9.57 billion in open interest over the last 24 hours, surpassing the combined $7.34 billion across its competitors, including Aster, Lighter, Variational, edgeX, and Paradex.

This widening divide suggests that traders are increasingly favoring Hyperliquid as their go-to platform for maintaining leveraged positions, rather than merely chasing short-term incentives. The trend has emerged as reward-driven trading cools across the sector.

Attempts to Support Aster Amid Uncertainties

Lighter, which experienced a trading surge ahead of its token airdrop last year, has since seen a significant reduction in activity, with weekly volumes dropping from their December peaks. The LIT token has also slumped to new lows, losing over a third of its value in the past month as a large portion of airdropped tokens entered the market.

Lighter Token Performance

In response to its declining token value, Aster has rolled out a Strategic Buyback Reserve. This initiative builds on a broader buyback program announced in December, allowing up to 80% of daily fees to be allocated for automatic and discretionary buybacks, conducted on-chain.

Yet, the looming issue of significant token unlocks remains a major concern for investors. Aster has substantial unlocks scheduled through 2026, including quarterly releases of around 183 million ASTER in January and April, followed by additional large issuances in mid-year and ongoing monthly distributions.

Although the Aster team had previously postponed unlocks to create utility and mitigate near-term pressure, the scale of the upcoming supply has become a significant point of focus for traders assessing potential downside risks. While the overall incentive-driven activity has tapered off in the sector, Hyperliquid continues to draw investment, despite its token, HYPE, experiencing a decline along with the broader market.