Aster Soars 33,500% in Open Interest, Leads Hyperliquid in Daily Trading Volumes

Aster, a decentralized perpetuals exchange on BNB Chain, experienced an astonishing increase in open interest of nearly 33,500% in just under a week, rivaling its leading competitor, Hyperliquid.

On Wednesday, data from CoinGlass indicated that Aster’s open interest surged from $3.72 million on Friday to $1.25 billion at the time of writing. The surge in active contracts indicated that traders were flocking to the platform, putting pressure on its main competitor, Hyperliquid.

Open interest refers to the total number of active contracts that have not yet been settled. It serves as a critical metric to assess liquidity and market confidence in a project. The surge in Aster’s open interest demonstrated that traders were eager to invest capital in the platform.

Alongside open interest, Aster’s total value locked (TVL), another vital metric in decentralized finance (DeFi), also saw growth. On Wednesday, data from DefiLlama revealed that Aster’s TVL reached $1.85 billion, marking a 196% increase from Friday’s $625 million.

Aster surpasses Hyperliquid in 24-hour volume

Data from DefiLlama also indicated that Aster led daily perpetual trading volumes on Wednesday, achieving nearly $24.7 billion in the last 24 hours.

This placed Aster’s 24-hour performance ahead of its strongest competitor, Hyperliquid, which logged around $10 billion on Wednesday. Competitors like edgeX and Lighter followed closely behind, with daily volumes of $8.25 billion and $6.18 billion, respectively.

Despite Aster overtaking Hyperliquid for daily volume, Hyperliquid still possesses deeper liquidity over extended periods.

Hyperliquid remains at the top of the charts for seven-day and 30-day perpetual volumes, having recorded $66 billion in the past week and nearly $300 billion over the last 30 days.

Related: Machi Big Brother exits $25M HYPE bet at $4M loss as rivals gobble up Hyperliquid market share

CoinMarketCap and BNB Chain support propel Aster to the forefront

On Friday, a spokesperson for BNB Chain informed Cointelegraph that Aster received support from both them and YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs). This backing included mentorship, ecosystem exposure, and access to technical and marketing resources.

Crypto data platform CoinMarketCap also enhanced Aster’s visibility through its CMC Launch program, designed to feature new projects.

Jin Choo, lead of CMC Launch, stated that the initiative to support Aster has resulted in considerable exposure.

This exposure encompassed 400 million homepage banner impressions, over 3 million tweet impressions, and a collective reach exceeding 5 million through newsletters, app notifications, and media coverage.

“The campaign also amassed over 1.5 million views from live events, 1.5 million landing page clicks, and more than 500,000 clicks to Aster’s project page,” Choo elaborated.

Binance acquired CoinMarketCap in April 2020 for an undisclosed amount. However, when asked whether YZi Labs or Binance influenced Aster’s selection for CMC Launch, Choo replied in the negative.

He emphasized to Cointelegraph that the project was chosen based purely on its qualifications, aligning with CMC Launch’s criteria, which include innovation, market potential, and community engagement.

“Binance and CoinMarketCap operate as separate entities with distinct operations,” Choo clarified. “Binance does not control or influence how CoinMarketCap manages its affairs, including project promotions.”