Aster's Airdrop-Driven Surge Challenges Hyperliquid's Infrastructure-Backed Resilience

Aster, a decentralized perpetuals exchange (DEX) built on the BNB Chain, has temporarily dethroned Hyperliquid as the leading perp DEX by 24-hour trading volume. Data from DeFiLlama and CoinGlass indicates that Aster’s daily volume reached $25.77 billion on September 24, outpacing Hyperliquid’s $10.09 billion. This surge was driven by a combination of Binance’s strategic support, a successful token migration, and aggressive airdrop incentivestitle4^[4]. The ASTER token, launched on September 17, saw a 2,000% surge in the week following its token generation event (TGE), peaking at $2.26 before settling at $2.40title1^[1]. Binance’s listing of ASTER perpetuals with 50x leverage and the involvement of Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao as a liquidator significantly boosted investor confidencetitle1^[1].

Hyperliquid, despite ceding its daily volume crown, retains a stronger position over longer timeframes. Its 30-day trading volume stands at $307 billion, compared to Aster’s $27 billiontitle8^[8]. Hyperliquid’s custom-built Layer-1 blockchain, capable of processing 200,000 orders per second with sub-second finality, continues to attract institutional liquidity and traders seeking high-performance infrastructuretitle6^[6]. Open interest on Hyperliquid also remains robust at $15 billion, dwarfing Aster’s $3.72 million as of September 2025title6^[6]. However, Aster’s multi-chain approach—spanning BNB Chain, Ethereum, Solana, and Arbitrum—has enabled it to capture retail demand with features like yield-bearing collateral and dual trading modestitle6^[6].

The competition between the two platforms reflects broader trends in the perp DEX sector, which has recorded $1.8 trillion in quarterly trading volume, surpassing the entire 2024 totaltitle7^[7]. Aster’s success is attributed to its aggressive tokenomics, including a 53.5% allocation of its 8 billion ASTER supply to airdrops, and strategic partnerships with YZi Labs and Trust Wallettitle4^[4]. Meanwhile, Hyperliquid’s revenue model, which channels 97% of trading fees into a buyback fund, has sustained its HYPE token’s value despite a $12.5 billion market captitle6^[6].

Market analysts note that Aster’s dominance is temporary, given its concentrated token ownership and reliance on short-term incentives. Over 96% of ASTER tokens are held by four wallets, raising concerns about price volatility and potential sell-offs post-airdroptitle6^[6]. Hyperliquid, by contrast, has demonstrated resilience through steady user growth—expanding from 31,000 wallets in early 2024 to 300,000 by year-end—and a diversified product suite, including 158 perpetual pairs and in-house tools like HypurrScantitle6^[6].

Looking ahead, Aster’s roadmap includes testing a Layer-1 blockchain to enhance privacy and security, while Hyperliquid continues optimizing its custom infrastructuretitle1^[1]. The perp DEX market, now valued at $319 billion in monthly volume, remains highly competitive, with edgeX and Lighter also gaining tractiontitle7^[7]. However, regulatory scrutiny looms large, particularly for projects tied to Binance, as both platforms navigate the evolving crypto landscapetitle6^[6].