Aster Perpetual · ASTERUSDT

About Aster (ASTER)

Aster is a next-generation decentralized perpetual exchange that combines non-custodial trading with advanced features like hidden orders and multi-chain support. The platform emerged from the merger of Astherus and APX Finance in late 2024, with APX token holders able to migrate their holdings to ASTER.

Trading Aster Perpetuals on Aster

On Aster, Aster trades as the USDT-margined ASTERUSDT perpetual: a contract with no expiry date, where your collateral and your profit or loss are both settled in USDT rather than in ASTER itself. Leverage runs up to 200x on the standard order-book market, and funding is exchanged between longs and shorts every eight hours to keep the contract price tracking its index. Orders can be placed openly or through Aster's hidden-order mode, which keeps size out of the public book until the moment it executes.

ASTER is also the native token of the exchange this contract trades on, which makes it the one market on the site where the underlying and the venue are the same project. Before you take a position, it is worth reading what the ASTER token actually is — supply, veASTER staking, the fee discount and the buyback programme all sit behind the price this perpetual tracks.

Staking is the part that changed the supply picture most: locking into veASTER cut monthly unlocks by roughly 97% and routes the buyback back to stakers, so the float this contract prices against behaves very differently from the original vesting schedule. If you hold spot alongside this perp, read how staking ASTER works before deciding which side of the position to size up.

How the ASTERUSDT Perp Differs From Owning Aster

Buying Aster outright gives you the asset. Trading the ASTERUSDT perpetual gives you exposure to what its price does without ever holding it: you post USDT as margin, and the position is closed out in USDT at whatever level you exit. That difference has three practical consequences. Going short is as easy as going long, so a falling ASTER price is something you can trade rather than sit out. Position size can exceed collateral, up to 200x, which magnifies losses at exactly the same rate it magnifies gains. And funding is paid or received every eight hours for as long as the position stays open, a running cost that someone simply holding Aster never encounters.

Fees and Leverage on the ASTERUSDT Market

Aster charges 0% maker and 0.04% taker on USDT-margined perpetuals, so adding liquidity to the ASTERUSDT book costs nothing and taking it costs 0.04% of notional. Two discounts stack on top of that: paying fees in ASTER takes another 5% off, and signing up with referral code MMTz04 takes a further 5% off every trade. Leverage on Aster is capped at 200x on the standard perp. Leverage does not change the fee rate, but it does change the notional those fees are charged against, so a 50x position pays fifty times the fee that the same collateral would pay unlevered. The full tier structure is in our Aster fees guide.

What to Know Before Trading Aster

Three things decide whether a Aster position survives. Funding is the first: the eight-hourly payment runs positive or negative depending on which side is crowded, and over days rather than minutes it compounds into a real drag on a held position. Liquidation is the second: at 200x, a move of roughly 0.50% against you consumes the margin backing the trade, before fees are counted. Liquidity is the third: depth on ASTERUSDT varies by hour, and a market order sized past the visible book fills at progressively worse prices, which is the situation limit orders and hidden orders exist to handle. Set the stop before you open the position rather than after, and treat the leverage slider as a risk control rather than a way to buy more.

How to Trade Aster on Aster in 4 Steps

1. 1Connect a wallet — open asterdex.com and connect MetaMask, Rabby, or any Web3 wallet. No KYC required.
2. 2Deposit USDT — fund your account with USDT to use as margin collateral.
3. 3Open the ASTERUSDT market — select Aster, choose your leverage (up to 200x), and set your margin mode.
4. 4Place your order — market or limit, with optional hidden-order mode for size. Manage risk with stop-loss and take-profit.

Aster Perpetual — Contract Specs

Frequently Asked Questions