Aster Posts $41.78B Daily Volume, Leaving Hyperliquid in the Dust

The derivatives trading market is witnessing a major shake-up, with Aster taking the lead among perpetual decentralized exchanges (DEXes).

According to a recent CoinMarketCap report, Aster has surpassed all other perpetual DEXes, boasting an astonishing $41.78 billion in daily trading volume.

In comparison, its closest competitors, Lighter and Hyperliquid, recorded daily volumes of $10.13 billion and $9.02 billion, respectively.

DefiLlama Removes Aster Data Amid Correlation Concerns

However, Aster’s dominance came under scrutiny this week after DefiLlama, a prominent Web3 analytics and tracking platform, delisted Aster’s perpetual trading data.

The move followed a public statement by DefiLlama’s pseudonymous founder, 0xngmi. Specifically, he pointed out an unusual statistical pattern in Aster’s reported trading volumes. According to him, Aster’s volume movements started mirroring Binance’s perpetual contracts almost perfectly. Such a level of correlation is highly unusual for independent decentralized exchanges.

Consequently, this raised alarms within the crypto analytics community. Since Aster does not publicly share on-chain order-level data, it becomes difficult for external parties to verify whether its reported volumes reflect genuine organic trading activity or potential wash trading.

Nonetheless, DefiLlama clarified that the delisting is only temporary. The platform’s data will remain suspended until proper verification or independent transparency mechanisms are in place.

Binance Connection Boosts Credibility

Despite the controversy, Aster’s market presence continues to grow, largely because of its strong association with Binance’s ecosystem. The project received a significant credibility boost after Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) publicly mentioned it on his X (formerly Twitter) account.

Behind the scenes, Aster’s development has a close link with YZi Labs, the rebranded venture investment arm of Binance Labs. YZi Labs made a strategic investment in Astherus, Aster’s predecessor, back in November 2024.

With YZi Labs now connected to both CZ and Binance co-founder Yi He, Aster enjoys deep access to the BNB Chain ecosystem, vast liquidity pools, and global investor attention.

Many analysts believe this connection has been a key driver of Aster’s rapid adoption and reputation as a “Binance-backed” decentralized platform, despite being, in essence, an independent platform.

ASTER Token Skyrockets Over 9,900% Since Launch

Adding to Aster’s headline dominance is the stunning rise of its native token, ASTER. The token was launched during its Token Generation Event (TGE) on September 17, at just $0.02. Remarkably, within a few weeks, it skyrocketed to $1.99, marking a 9,900% surge in value.

This rally pushed ASTER’s market capitalization to $3.37 billion, making it the 52nd largest cryptocurrency in the world, according to CoinGecko.