The decentralised exchange Aster has surpassed Hyperliquid by daily trading volume. According to DeFi Llama, over the past 24 hours the platform handled $20.8bn versus $9.7bn for its rival.
The BNB Chain-based DEX also out-earned its rival on fee revenue: $9.2m versus $2.7m in the past 24 hours. Aster ranked second among protocols, ahead of Circle, the firm behind USDC.
However, the platform still trails its competitor on TVL at $1.8bn. At the time of writing, Hyperliquid’s total value locked exceeds $6.5bn.
On Aster’s coattails, BNB Chain outstripped Solana for the first time by daily transaction fees. Until mid-September the network rarely topped $500,000, while its rival consistently hovered around $1.2m.
Aster emerged from a merger of APX Finance and Astherus in March. The exchange drew the crypto community’s attention after launching its eponymous token on September 17.
Its standout feature is hidden orders, allowing invisible limit orders to be placed in the order book. That sets Aster apart from the transparent mechanics of most on-chain exchanges and helped attract users.
But the main catalyst was a post by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) congratulating the exchange on the release of its native coin.
As a result, ASTER’s price surged more than tenfold within days, peaking at $2. The asset’s market capitalisation exceeded $3.7bn.
On September 24 the token set a new all-time high above $2.3, after Aster announced a 5% fee discount for spot trading.
Earlier, some users suggested that Zhao himself initiated the creation of the DEX in the BNB Chain ecosystem in response to Hyperliquid’s success. As evidence, they cited that in late 2024 Aster received funding from YZi Labs, Binance’s venture arm.
After striking a deal with US authorities, CZ was permanently barred from running the trading platform. He still plays a key role at YZi Labs, however — Zhao engages with founders of projects financed by the organisation and offers mentorship.
On September 24 Trust Wallet, the non-custodial wallet owned by the Binance founder, also said it plans to launch futures trading in partnership with Aster.
Despite the frenzy and strong metrics, Aster has faced allegations of manipulation. On September 20 an on-chain analyst known as tracer claimed that Binance was dumping millions of ASTER coins in real time.
According to a crypto trader known as cyclop, 96% of the ASTER supply is controlled by six wallets, which he links to a single entity.
“There is no value: the token’s daily trading volume in the bitcoin pair is only $500,000, and 50% is just phantom liquidity. Yet its market capitalisation runs into the billions of dollars,” he said.
cyclop warned that ASTER’s price is set by insiders who control almost the entire supply.
Many market participants, however, have taken a more measured view. An investor going by ionicXBT argues that support from CZ and the concentration of the coin’s float on Binance are what make the project promising.
An expert known as Whale.Guru echoed the view, calling ASTER undervalued.
Gleb Kostarev, CEO of the Telegram project Blum, said the Aster story is not one of manipulation but an example of how the “mechanics of success in the crypto industry” really work.
“What matters is neither the name nor even the product, but the ultimate intentions of those who make the decisions. The examples of Broccoli, Mubarak and TST are living proof (they did not rip the market apart),” he explained.
The expert saw concentration and Binance’s backing as natural and significant elements of the platform’s popularity.
