Hyperliquid vs Aster

Hyperliquid and Aster are both decentralised perpetuals exchanges running on their own Layer 1 chains, but they are built around different ideas. Hyperliquid puts a fully public order book on chain and holds far more open interest. Aster offers encrypted orders and hidden positions, charges no maker fee and is running trading campaigns now, so it tends to suit traders who want privacy and incentives, while Hyperliquid suits traders who want scale and full transparency.

The Short Version

• Fees: Hyperliquid's base perp rate is 0.015% maker and 0.045% taker. Aster's is 0% maker and 0.04% taker on general crypto perps.
• Liquidity: Hyperliquid's open interest is roughly six times Aster's at the time of writing (11 October 2026).
• Markets: both list crypto and stock perps. On Hyperliquid, stock markets come from third-party builders; Aster lists them itself and adds forex in Shield Mode.
• Campaigns: Aster has two live campaigns in our calendar. Hyperliquid has none, and its points program ended in 2024.
• Access: both exclude the US. Aster also excludes the UK and Canada; Hyperliquid excludes Ontario.

Fees

Fees come from our venue data, checked against each venue's docs on 11 October 2026. Hyperliquid charges 0.015% maker and 0.045% taker at its base tier, with lower rates as your rolling 14-day volume grows (Hyperliquid fees). Staking HYPE cuts fees further: at the base tier, the highest staking discount brings taker down to 0.027%. Builders who deploy markets under HIP-3 can add their own fee share of up to 300%, so those markets can cost more than native ones.

Aster charges 0% maker on its perps. Taker is 0.04% on general crypto pairs, 0.1% on a named list of "Group B" pairs and 0.0125% on RWA perps, with lower rates by VIP tier (Aster fees). On a $10,000 market order at base rates, you pay $4.50 on Hyperliquid and $4.00 on Aster. If you mostly post limit orders, Aster's zero maker fee matters more than the taker gap.

What You Can Trade

Hyperliquid runs perps and spot on HyperCore, its on-chain trading engine. Under HIP-3, anyone staking 500,000 HYPE can deploy their own perp market. That is how stock and index perps reached Hyperliquid: The Block reported in July 2026 that HIP-3 markets grew from about 2% of Hyperliquid's perp volume at the start of the year to around 50%.

Aster has four products: an order book for perps, Shield Mode (a simpler interface with order and position privacy), 1001x (one-click perps at very high leverage) and spot (Aster). Its stock perps cover US and Hong Kong listed shares at up to 50x, and Shield Mode lists EUR/USDT and GBP/USDT.

Liquidity and Volume

At the time of writing (11 October 2026), Hyperliquid shows $7.86 billion in perp open interest, $3.18 billion in 24-hour perp volume and $85.6 million in fees over 30 days, plus $72.7 million in 24-hour spot volume. Aster shows $1.34 billion in open interest, $544 million in 24-hour volume and $5.24 million in 30-day fees. Open interest and fees come from DefiLlama; 24-hour perp volume from CoinGecko.

In October 2025, DefiLlama delisted Aster's perp volume after it closely mirrored Binance's, saying it could not verify who was trading (The Block). Open interest is harder to inflate. Our guide on reading volume and open interest explains why.

Campaigns and Rewards

The Blackboard x Aster Trading Competition runs 10 October to 10 November with a pool of up to $100,000 and a $50,000 qualified volume minimum. Perpetual Grid 2.0 Liquidity Pool Mining runs to 25 October, paying up to 140,000 ASTER, and only grid bot trades count. Aster's referral program pays a default 10% commission you can split with the friend you refer. Stage 6 of its airdrop points (2 February to 29 March 2026) was reported as the last based on trading, with rewards moving to staking (Blockchain Reporter).

Hyperliquid has no campaigns in our calendar. Its points program ran from November 2023 to November 2024. Referrals need $10,000 of your own volume; you earn 10% of referred users' fees and they get 4% off on their first $25 million. See points programs and trading competitions for other venues.

Who Can Use It

Hyperliquid's terms bar US persons, residents of Ontario and sanctioned territories. You start trading with a wallet or an email login.

Aster's terms (updated 25 February 2026) bar the US, Canada, the UK, China, North Korea, Russia, Ukraine, Cuba, Iran, Venezuela and Syria. Aster says it may run limited identity checks. Campaign rules can add their own limits, so check each campaign before joining.

Track Record and Safety

Hyperliquid launched in 2023. Every order, cancel, trade and liquidation happens on its own chain (Hyperliquid), and its legacy bridge was audited by Zellic (audits). In March 2025, a trader manipulated the JELLYJELLY market and pushed losses towards the HLP vault. Validators voted to delist the market, and the Hyper Foundation said it would make users whole, except flagged addresses (The Block).

Aster launched in 2025 and is non-custodial. It says the exchange runs on Aster Chain, its own Layer 1. Its audit page lists reports for its vault, Earn, asBNB and USDF contracts. In September 2025, an XPL pricing error caused mass liquidations, and Aster repaid affected users in USDT (The Block).

Which to Choose

• Choose Hyperliquid if you want the venue with more open interest, a fully transparent on-chain record and stock perps from several builders.
• Choose Aster if you want to hide your orders and positions, mostly post maker orders, or want to join live campaigns.

Questions People Ask

Which is cheaper, Hyperliquid or Aster?

At base rates, Aster: 0% maker against 0.015%, and 0.04% taker against 0.045%. Hyperliquid narrows the gap with volume tiers and HYPE staking, and Aster's Group B pairs cost 0.1% taker.

Can I trade stocks on both?

Yes. Aster lists US and Hong Kong stock perps itself. On Hyperliquid, stock and index perps come from HIP-3 builders, who set their own fees and oracles.

Do I need KYC?

Hyperliquid's onboarding guide asks only for a wallet or an email login. Aster's terms allow limited identity checks. Both block certain countries.

Why does Hyperliquid have so much more open interest?

Open interest is the value of positions still open. Hyperliquid has been live since 2023, two years longer than Aster, and open interest is harder to inflate than volume.

This comparison is information, not financial advice. Trading carries risk, and fees and terms change: check each venue's own pages before you trade.