Recently, the decentralized finance (DeFi) derivatives sector has welcomed significant developments — Binance's early token platform Binance Alpha officially supports the migration of APX tokens to ASTER. This move not only marks the entry of the Aster ecosystem into a 'new stage of unified development' but also directly ignites market speculation: since the APX/ASTER swap contract was launched on September 17, the token exchange rate has soared over 600%, and the total value locked (TVL) on the platform has surged from $378 million before the migration to $677 million. Coupled with the public endorsement from Binance founder Zhao Changpeng (CZ), market expectations for $ASTER continue to rise, with some opinions suggesting it could challenge Hyperliquid's dominance in the decentralized perpetual futures market, becoming a new dark horse in the sector.
1. From APX to $ASTER: The 'integration and upgrade path' of the Aster ecosystem.
$ASTER's birth is not coincidental, but the result of the 'advantage integration' of the two major protocols ApolloX (APX) and Astherus. After more than two years of iteration, it has finally formed a fully functional ecosystem covering 'trading + yield', laying the foundation for this migration and market explosion.
1. Project evolution: From hybrid derivatives exchange to unified ecology.
The predecessor of Aster can be traced back to ApolloX (APX), launched in November 2021, which was positioned as a 'hybrid derivatives exchange', combining the smooth experience of centralized exchanges (CEX) with the asset control advantages of decentralized exchanges (DEX), initially accumulating a certain user base on the BNB chain.
In April 2023, the ApolloX team launched the second version of the protocol (V2), focusing on strengthening decentralized perpetual contract functions—thanks to advantages such as 'low slippage, high leverage (up to 100 times), and zero gas fees', it quickly became the largest decentralized perpetual DEX on the BNB chain, at its peak occupying over 40% of the perpetual contract market's liquidity and trading volume on the BNB chain, and the APX token also became a popular derivatives token on the BNB chain.
Astherus is a 'yield-generating protocol' that operates independently but is of the same origin as ApolloX, focusing on passive income features such as 'liquidity mining and staking dividends', attracting a large number of users seeking stable income. As the user groups of the two protocols gradually overlap, the team realizes that 'function splitting' has become a bottleneck for ecological development—users need to switch operations between two platforms, and assets cannot interconnect, leading to a fragmented experience.
Based on this, the Aster ecological integration plan has come into being: completely merging ApolloX's 'trading function' with Astherus's 'yield function' to launch a unified decentralized perpetual futures exchange, with the native token upgraded from APX to $ASTER, achieving a one-stop ecological closed loop of 'trading is mining, holding enjoys dividends'.
2. Core of migration: 1:1 automatic conversion, Binance's endorsement lowers the threshold.
This migration from APX to $ASTER has achieved breakthroughs in operational convenience and market trust, especially with Binance's support becoming a key catalyst.
Binance Alpha platform automatic conversion: On September 19, Binance's early token platform Binance Alpha officially launched migration. Users holding APX on the platform do not need to operate manually; the system automatically converts APX to $ASTER at a '1:1 ratio'. After conversion, $ASTER can be freely traded on Binance-related trading pairs (such as $ASTER/USDT), significantly lowering the migration threshold for ordinary users.
Self-custody user manual operation channel: For users who store APX in personal wallets (such as MetaMask, Trust Wallet), they can complete manual conversion through Aster's official migration page by connecting their wallets, supporting multi-chain assets such as BNB chain and Ethereum chain to ensure full scene coverage.
Binance's long-term investment endorsement: As early as 2024, Binance's venture capital department YZi Labs (originally Binance's startup company) strategically invested in the Astherus protocol. This support for the migration is not a 'temporary cooperation', but a continuation of long-term layout. This endorsement has significantly enhanced market trust in $ASTER and attracted a large number of Binance ecosystem users.
2. Market heat explosion: $ASTER skyrocketed by 600%, with the logic behind the doubling of TVL.
Since the launch of migration, $ASTER's market performance can be described as 'phenomenal'—exchange rate skyrocketed, TVL doubled, and CZ's endorsement triggered a chain reaction, with multiple factors pushing it to become a 'star token' in the recent DeFi track.
1. Price surge of 600%: Resonance of speculative enthusiasm and ecosystem expectations.
Before the opening of the APX/$ASTER swap contract on September 17, the market price of APX had long hovered around $0.1; after the opening, stimulated by the dual benefits of 'ecological integration + Binance support', the price of $ASTER soared, reaching $0.6 by September 21, representing a more than 600% surge compared to APX's previous price, with some trading platforms even seeing short-term increases exceeding 800%.
Behind the price surge is the resonance of 'short-term speculation' and 'long-term ecosystem expectations'.
Short-term speculative funds influx: After the news of Binance supporting migration was announced, a large number of short-term traders looking forward to the 'new token listing premium' rushed in to buy, quickly pushing prices up. At the same time, some APX holders chose to cash out shortly after obtaining $ASTER through the '1:1 conversion', but more investors opted for long-term holding, leading to a decrease in market circulation and further driving up prices.
Long-term ecological value expectations: Investors are optimistic about the potential of Aster after the integration of 'trading + yield'—compared to single-function decentralized futures platforms, Aster users can complete 'perpetual contract trading (earning transaction fee rebates)' and 'token staking (earning dividend yields)' on the same platform. This ecological closed loop is expected to enhance user stickiness and token demand, attracting many institutions and large holders to lay out.
2. TVL soars to $677 million: Platform strength recognized by the market.
As prices rise, the total locked value (TVL) of the Aster platform also explodes—before migration (September 15), the TVL was only $378 million, and after completion of migration on September 19, it quickly climbed to $677 million, with a single-day increase of over 84%, setting a new historical high for the project.
The surge in TVL directly reflects the market's recognition of the Aster platform.
Liquidity migration completed synchronously: After converting to $ASTER, a large number of old APX users re-staked their tokens in Aster's liquidity pool, participating in 'trading mining' and 'staking dividends', directly driving TVL growth.
New users actively entering: Binance's traffic support has allowed more external users to understand Aster, especially BNB chain ecosystem users, who choose to deposit assets into Aster due to 'low threshold and high yield expectations', further expanding the TVL scale.
From a track comparison perspective, Aster's TVL has surpassed that of dYdX (about $520 million), Bybit DEX (about $480 million), and other similar decentralized futures platforms, only second to Hyperliquid (about $1.2 billion), preliminarily demonstrating its strength.
3. CZ's endorsement ignites enthusiasm: Industry influence boosts market attention.
On September 18 (the day before migration), Binance founder Zhao Changpeng (CZ) posted on social platform X to celebrate the 'smooth advancement of the Aster migration plan' and mentioned 'looking forward to Aster bringing new vitality to the decentralized derivatives track'. This tweet quickly attracted industry attention, with interactions exceeding 100,000 for a single tweet, directly bringing 'traffic dividends' to $ASTER.
In the crypto market, CZ's public endorsement often acts as an 'amplifier' for project popularity.
Attracting incremental users: A large number of ordinary investors who follow CZ have started to learn about and participate in $ASTER due to 'trusting CZ's judgment', driving rapid growth in user base.
Enhancing industry recognition: CZ's endorsement has greatly improved Aster's visibility in the industry, leading many blockchain media and analysts to report on Aster, creating a positive cycle of 'media coverage → more attention → price increase'.
Enhancing market confidence: For institutional investors, CZ's endorsement has reduced concerns about the project 'running away' or 'technical risks', prompting many small funds to include $ASTER in their 'DeFi derivatives track observation list', laying the groundwork for future fund inflows.
3. Track competition: Can $ASTER challenge Hyperliquid's dominant position?
With the rapid rise of Aster, the market has begun to discuss a topic: Can $ASTER break Hyperliquid's monopoly in the decentralized perpetual futures market and become the new track leader? From the current situation, Aster has 'differentiated advantages' but also faces many challenges.
1. Aster's core competitive advantages.
Compared to the current track leader Hyperliquid, Aster's advantages are mainly reflected in three aspects:
Ecological integration is more comprehensive: Hyperliquid focuses on 'decentralized perpetual futures trading' with relatively single functions, while Aster integrates 'trading + yield'. Users can not only trade contracts but also earn platform fee dividends through staking $ASTER and participate in liquidity mining for additional rewards. This 'one-stop service' is more likely to retain users and enhance token demand.
Binance's ecological support: Hyperliquid mainly relies on its own community and Ethereum ecosystem traffic, while Aster backs on Binance's ecosystem—support from Binance Alpha and investment from YZi Labs allows Aster to quickly reach Binance's massive user base (over 150 million registered users), with lower traffic acquisition costs and faster growth.
Multi-chain support is more flexible: Currently, Hyperliquid only supports the Ethereum chain, while Aster has covered the BNB chain and Ethereum chain, with plans to support more public chains like Solana and Base in the future, meeting the needs of users across different chains and expanding market coverage.
2. Challenges and risks faced.
Despite clear advantages, Aster still needs to overcome three major challenges to surpass Hyperliquid:
Technical stability test: Since its launch, Hyperliquid has been known for 'low lag and high trading speed', maintaining stable operation even in extreme market conditions (such as on the day Bitcoin ETF approval in 2024). In contrast, Aster has just completed its integration upgrade and has not yet undergone large-scale extreme market tests; its technical stability remains to be validated. If issues such as 'downtime' or 'liquidation delays' arise, it could affect user trust.
Liquidity gap still exists: Currently, Hyperliquid's average daily trading volume for perpetual contracts is about $8 billion, while Aster's is only $3.5 billion, indicating a significant liquidity gap—insufficient liquidity may lead to 'high slippage', affecting the experience of large traders and thereby restricting platform scale expansion.
Regulatory and competitive risks: The regulatory policies for decentralized derivatives are still uncertain, and if regulations tighten in the future, it may affect platform operations. At the same time, platforms like dYdX and Bybit DEX are also continuously upgrading their functions, leading to increasingly fierce competition in the track. Aster needs to keep innovating to maintain its advantages.
Four, Market expectations and investment suggestions: Short-term and long-term outlook for $ASTER.
There is currently a significant divergence in market expectations for $ASTER, with some investors optimistic about 'hitting $10 in October', while others believe that 'after a short-term surge, caution is needed for a pullback'. Considering the project's fundamentals and market environment, investors should rationally assess and manage risk.
1. Short-term: Beware of pullback risks and focus on key support levels.
From a short-term (1-2 weeks) perspective, $ASTER faces 'pullback pressure'.
Profit-taking after the surge: The current rise of $ASTER has seriously exhausted short-term good news, and some early investors (especially those whose cost was below $0.1 as APX holders) may choose to cash out, leading to increased selling pressure.
Technical aspect overbought: From the 4-hour K-line perspective, the RSI indicator of $ASTER has climbed above the overbought range of 85, indicating strong short-term pullback demand.
Key support levels: If $ASTER pulls back, key attention should be paid to $0.4 (the recent pullback low during the rise) and $0.3 (the 50-day moving average position). If these two positions can be maintained, there may still be upward potential; if it falls below $0.3, it may further pull back to around $0.2.
2. Long-term: Ecological landing is key, target price should be viewed rationally.
From a long-term (3-6 months) perspective, the value of $ASTER depends on the progress of Aster's ecological landing, rather than short-term speculation.
Focus on ecological data: Investors should focus on tracking three indicators: first, the average daily trading volume of perpetual contracts (if it can stabilize above $5 billion, it indicates sufficient platform activity); second, the staking rate of $ASTER (if the staking rate exceeds 60%, it indicates a larger number of long-term holders and lower selling pressure); third, the progress of new chain support (if it can smoothly connect to public chains like Solana and Base, the user base is expected to further expand).
Rational view on target price: Some X users predict that $ASTER will 'approach $10 in October' and 'catch up with Hyperliquid's market value of $11.4'. This target needs to be viewed objectively—currently, Hyperliquid's market value is about $12 billion. For $ASTER to reach $11.4, its market value needs to exceed $10 billion, while the current market value of $ASTER is only $3 billion. Achieving this goal requires continuous doubling of platform trading volume, TVL, etc., and sustained high market sentiment, which is quite difficult in the short term.
Risk warning: Decentralized derivatives platforms generally face risks such as 'smart contract vulnerabilities' and 'regulatory policy changes'. Investors should avoid 'over-leveraging' and keep their holdings of $ASTER within 10% of total funds while closely monitoring the platform's technical updates and regulatory dynamics.
Five, Summary: Aster opens a new competitive landscape for decentralized futures.
Binance's support for migrating APX to $ASTER is not just a simple token upgrade, but a signal of the 'interchange of new and old forces' in the decentralized derivatives track—Aster has rapidly risen with 'ecological integration + Binance endorsement', breaking the long-term monopoly of Hyperliquid and injecting new vitality into the track.
For investors, while the short-term surge of $ASTER brings opportunities, it also hides risks, and caution against 'chasing highs and cutting losses' is necessary. In the long term, if Aster can continuously implement ecological functions and enhance platform competitiveness, $ASTER is expected to become one of the core tokens in the decentralized derivatives track.
If you want to continue tracking the price dynamics of $ASTER, the progress of Aster's ecological landing, and changes in the competitive landscape of decentralized futures, and to receive timely operational suggestions, follow Crypto Old Dong. Later, we will provide you with deeper project interpretations and market analysis to help you seize the rhythm and avoid risks in the new opportunities of DeFi.
