Key takeaways
A new era of DEX competition has pivoted from token incentives to prioritizing speed, leverage, and sustainable infrastructure.
Hyperliquid remains at the forefront, boasting over $300 billion in monthly volume, robust liquidity, and increasing institutional interest.
Aster’s expansion thrives on airdrops, Binance affiliation, and leverage appealing to professional traders.
Lighter is gaining traction due to its Ethereum layer-2 speed, no-fee trading, and a unique points-based yield farming system.
Platforms like SushiSwap, PancakeSwap, and Curve harnessed yield farming and governance token incentives to draw liquidity, catalyzing swift capital influx and billions of dollars on-chain in a brief timeframe.
The initial rivalry focused on attracting total value locked (TVL) and traders via token incentives rather than speed, leverage, or institutional infrastructure. Ultimately, Uniswap emerged as the leader, establishing a playbook that included liquidity mining, airdrops, and tokenized participation, forming the basis for the more intricate decentralized exchange (DEX) wars currently unfolding in perpetuals.
Inside the DEX liquidity wars
Hyperliquid, a DEX on its own high-performance blockchain, experienced significant growth in 2025, handling over $300 billion in trading volume by mid-year, with daily trading reaching nearly $17 billion. Its deep liquidity and fast execution have garnered strong support from active and professional traders.
A major factor driving Hyperliquid’s growth has been its points-based rewards initiative, which increased liquidity and user engagement, resulting in a substantial airdrop.
A total of 27.5% of the token supply was allocated to 94,000 addresses, rewarding early and active traders, translating into one of the most significant token distributions in recent crypto history, valued around $7 billion-$8 billion.
However, rivals are quickly gaining ground.
Aster, a rapidly expanding DEX on BNB Smart Chain, has emerged as a significant competitor to Hyperliquid. On some days, trading volumes have exceeded tens of billions of dollars, occasionally surpassing Hyperliquid. The project’s link to Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, Binance’s co-founder, has also attracted considerable market interest.
Simultaneously, Lighter, a new exchange on an Ethereum rollup, has reported daily trading volumes surpassing $8 billion.
Together, these competitors are transforming Hyperliquid’s previous dominance into a three-way battle for market share.
Calder White, CTO at Vigil Labs, a Silicon Valley startup recently funded with $5.7 million to apply AI in cryptocurrency trading, notes that the growth dynamics vary significantly across platforms.
“Our analysis indicates that Aster’s growth is largely narrative-driven, with traders cycling capital to increase volumes, while Hyperliquid maintains the most organic flow from serious participants. Both Aster and Lighter are leveraging the same points-to-airdrop strategy to compete with Hyperliquid for market share,” White commented.
Aster’s high-stakes play for DEX dominance
Aster’s success is linked to its relationship with CZ, who now advises the project, earning it the nickname “Binance’s DEX.” The exchange has introduced tokenized stocks, enabling users to trade major assets on-chain with leverage up to 1,000x, and it plans to launch its own layer-1 blockchain.
This has positioned Aster as one of the boldest ventures in DEX design to date.
Aster’s tremendous growth is driven by its extensive airdrop program, rewarding users for generating trading activity. Season two saw the distribution of 320 million Aster tokens, valued at approximately $600 million, concluding on October 5, 2025.
This incentive model has already demonstrated its effectiveness, generating over $20 million in 24-hour fees and ranking among the top revenue producers in decentralized finance (DeFi). There’s speculation that part of these earnings may be used for token buybacks, potentially enhancing Aster’s token value and sustaining interest beyond the airdrop phase.
Participants could earn significant rewards ranging from thousands of dollars up to seven figures for the most active traders. Although these incentives have generated notable volume, it’s uncertain if users will maintain trading once rewards decrease.
Airdrops and exclusivity drive Lighter’s rise
Lighter has quickly emerged as one of the most technically advanced platforms in DeFi, built on a custom Ethereum layer-2 with zero-knowledge circuits, achieving sub-five-millisecond matching latency. Its objective is to rival centralized exchange (CEX) speeds while offering zero trading fees for retail and premium charges for API and institutional flows.
Rapid growth has been propelled by Lighter’s Liquidity Pool (LLP) program, which offers one of the most attractive yield opportunities in DeFi, currently yielding around 60% annual percentage yield (APY) on over $400 million in deposits. Access to the LLP is linked to a user’s points balance, providing higher allocation limits to more active participants.
Lighter’s no-fee model and points structure have sparked considerable interest among traders. Since its launch, the exchange has seen remarkable trading volumes, sometimes rivaling Hyperliquid. Much anticipation revolves around an expected token launch, rumored to occur later this year.
While a token hasn’t been released yet, there’s already an active over-the-counter market for Lighter points, with values ranging from tens of dollars each. Prices have surged from $39 to over $60, with one trader reportedly investing $1 million at $41 each.
Open interest (OI) is a vital metric for valuing a perpetual DEX, representing the cumulative value of all trades remaining open. Higher OI indicates more real capital invested in positions. For instance, Hyperliquid boasts $13.2 billion in OI, supporting a market capitalization of approximately $15.2 billion.
Lighter currently has about $2.1 billion in OI, suggesting a market cap of around $1 billion-$1.1 billion if 15%-20% of tokens unlock upon its launch. This equates to a fully diluted valuation (FDV) near $5 billion-$5.5 billion. With approximately 12 million points tied to the initial launch, each point could be valued at roughly $83 to $100.
If 15%-20% of the supply is allocated to the community, this could result in an airdrop worth $750 million-$1.1 billion, potentially making it one of the most pivotal token distributions in DeFi since Hyperliquid’s.
Institutional liquidity enters the chat
A growing subplot is the notable entry of institutional liquidity. Funds previously hesitant about on-chain derivatives due to concerns over slippage, latency, or compliance are now testing these platforms with initial capital.
Hyperliquid’s transparency and speed have piqued the interest of professional traders, while Aster’s Binance affiliation is gaining traction among Asian trading communities.
Lighter, with its sub-five-millisecond execution speed and on-chain settlement, is appealing to prop-trading firms seeking yield without counterparty risk. The next stage of the DEX wars may hinge less on airdrops and more on which platforms offer the most reliable infrastructure for substantial capital.
Infrastructure vs. narrative: Who wins in the long run?
Competition between Lighter, Aster, and Hyperliquid continues to intensify, with Hyperliquid still serving as the benchmark in on-chain derivatives, backed by unparalleled open interest, superior execution quality, and growing institutional engagement.
Rather than slowing, Hyperliquid has accelerated initiatives, introducing HIP-3, allowing anyone to launch a perp DEX on its infrastructure, releasing its USDH stablecoin, and promptly listing perpetuals for competing tokens like ASTER to tap into narrative-driven flows.
The exchange has maintained community engagement through new reward structures, such as the Hypurr non-fungible token (NFT) collection launched on September 28, 2025, which has surged in popularity with floor prices around 1,200 HYPE (approximately $55,000 each). This demand has sparked speculation about future reward rounds and possible enhancements to the points program.
According to White, this divergence among emerging DEXs illustrates how much incentives can influence markets relative to the stabilizing power of infrastructure.
“Hyperliquid is prioritizing execution and liquidity, while Aster and Lighter are exploring how far incentives can stretch the market,” he noted.
“The ultimate challenge will be determining whether traders remain engaged once the airdrop incentives dwindle.”
