Aster risk score
Short answer: Perpd scores Aster 52/100 (Read the flags) as of 14 Nov 2026, ranking 10 of 10. Its weakest factor is exit risk (3/10): Aster calls itself non-custodial, but withdrawals pass through its own Aster Chain bridge, signed by 2 of 3 team-run validators, with no external validators, closed-source core contracts and no escape hatch found. Its strongest is cost (8/10).
| Factor | Weight | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exit risk | 20% | 3/10 | Aster calls itself non-custodial, but withdrawals pass through its own Aster Chain bridge, signed by 2 of 3 team-run validators, with no external validators, closed-source core contracts and no escape hatch found. |
| Security record | 15% | 6/10 | Several audits (Salus, PeckShield, Halborn). |
| Liquidation & ADL | 15% | 6/10 | Oracle is a 14-exchange median, but no insurance fund is disclosed (-2) and the core chain code is closed (opaque, -2). |
| Execution check | 15% | Not scored yet: needs 7 daily order-book snapshots. Preview in Perp DEX fees compared: what a $100K trade really costs. | |
| Volume quality | 10% | 4/10 | 24h volume/OI is about 1.4, but DefiLlama's founder publicly raised wash-trading concerns and delisted Aster's perp volume. |
| Access & legal | 10% | 5/10 | Aster's restricted list is clear (US, Canada, UK and others), but no operating entity is named (-3). |
| Token, unlocks & team | 10% | 7/10 | ASTER insider share is low (team 5%, investors hold equity not tokens) and team unlocks are small, but the team is mostly pseudonymous (-3). |
| Cost | 5% | 8/10 | 0% maker and 0.04% taker on standard perps, with 0.0125% taker on USD1-margined RWA pairs. |
Weighted over the 7 scored factors: 52/100. Method: How Perpd scores perp DEXs.
Exit risk: 3/10
Aster calls itself non-custodial, but withdrawals pass through its own Aster Chain bridge, signed by 2 of 3 team-run validators, with no external validators, closed-source core contracts and no escape hatch found. Separately, Aster's vault products paused at their withdrawal caps in Dec 2024, Sep 2025 and Jul 2026 (vaults, not trading accounts).
- Aster's vaults paused in Dec 2024, Sep 2025 and Jul 2026 after hitting withdrawal caps. The vaults hold about $100M in USDF. Aster had no direct impact from the 29 Oct 2026 Binance hack. (source, 2026-11-02)
- Aster Chain is a PoSA L1. Phase 1 has no external validators, and core chain contracts and RPC are not open-sourced. Deposits need 3 of 4 validators; withdrawals need 2 of 3. Bridge operations are validator-signed. USDF custody is with Ceffu. (source, H2 2026)
- Aster's website describes the platform as non-custodial. (source, H2 2026)
- Escape hatch: not found. Withdrawal pauses in the last 12 months: not found. L2BEAT (now ETHBEAT) entry: not found. (source, H2 2026)
Security record: 6/10
Several audits (Salus, PeckShield, Halborn). XPL incident with users reimbursed (-3). Bounty $200K (-1).
- Audits: AsterVault (Salus, 13 Sep 2024), AsterEarn (Salus, 12 Sep 2024), asBNB (Salus, 11 Dec 2024; PeckShield), USDF (PeckShield; Halborn), asUSDF (Halborn), asCAKE (Salus, 17 Dec 2024), APX Exchange V2 (Salus, 24 Jun 2025). No high findings. The predecessor ApolloX audit (20 Apr 2023) had 1 high. (source, H2 2026)
- Bug bounty: Immunefi, max $200,000. (source, H2 2026)
- Incident on 25 Sep 2025: the XPL perp spiked above $4 against about $1.30 elsewhere, triggering liquidations. A hard-coded $1 index was suggested by the community but never confirmed by Aster. Aster reimbursed users in two rounds. Total loss not disclosed. (source, 2025-09-25)
- Launch: ASTER TGE 17 Sep 2025. The predecessor ApolloX audit is from 2023. Aster Chain launch date: not found. (source, H2 2026)
Liquidation & ADL: 6/10
Oracle is a 14-exchange median, but no insurance fund is disclosed (-2) and the core chain code is closed (opaque, -2). No ADL/manipulation event was found in the last 12 months.
- Oracle: weighted median from 14 exchanges. (source, H2 2026)
- Insurance fund: none disclosed in the transparency report. The docs have Liquidation and ADL pages (not read). ALP size: not found. (source, accessed 2026-11-09)
- ADL/socialized-loss/manipulation events Nov 2025-Nov 2026: not found. The XPL incident (25 Sep 2025) falls outside the window. (source, 2025-09-25)
Volume quality: 4/10
24h volume/OI is about 1.4, but DefiLlama's founder publicly raised wash-trading concerns and delisted Aster's perp volume.
- 24h perp volume $1.9b; 30d $48.737b; OI $1.371b; TVL $763.85m (7 Nov 2026). Ratio 24h/OI is about 1.39 (30d/OI about 36). (source, accessed 2026-11-09)
- DefiLlama's head raised wash-trading concerns (Aster volumes mirrored Binance) and delisted Aster's perp volume data. ASTER fell 10%. (source, 2025-10-05)
- DefiLlama shows Aster perp volume again as of Nov 2026, so the data was relisted at some point. Relisting date and terms: not found. (source, accessed 2026-11-09)
Access & legal: 5/10
Aster's restricted list is clear (US, Canada, UK and others), but no operating entity is named (-3). On 20 Nov 2025 the Seychelles Financial Services Authority publicly stated that Aster Dex is not authorized there and has no nexus to Seychelles. We count a regulator's public warning as -2 (an enforcement action would be -4).
- Seychelles FSA public statement (20 Nov 2025): Aster Dex has never been authorized under the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act 2024, is not registered under the International Business Companies Act 2016, and 'has no Nexus to the Seychelles'. It was issued after third-party sites claimed a Seychelles link. (source, 2025-11-20)
- Restricted: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, China, North Korea, Russia, Ukraine, Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, Syria, plus sanctioned territories. India and the EU are not listed. (source, H2 2026)
- No operating entity or jurisdiction is publicly identified. (source, H2 2026)
Token, unlocks & team: 7/10
ASTER insider share is low (team 5%, investors hold equity not tokens) and team unlocks are small, but the team is mostly pseudonymous (-3).
- ASTER, 8B supply: airdrop 53.5%, ecosystem 30%, treasury 7% (Aster Foundation, locked until governance use), team & advisors 5% (includes a small YZi Labs portion), liquidity 4.5%. No investor token allocation; seed investors hold equity. (source, H2 2026)
- Team & advisors: 12-month cliff from TGE (17 Sep 2025), then 10M/month for 40 months starting about Sep 2026 (about 0.125% of supply per month). No big unlock found in the next 3 months. (source, H2 2026)
- On 30 Mar 2026, ecosystem emissions switched to staking-only, 450K ASTER per weekly epoch. Monthly unlocks fell from about 78.4M to about 1.8-2.25M (-97%). (source, 2026-03-30)
- Team doxx: partial. CEO 'Leonard' is named; other contributors (Dust, Ember) are known only by handle. (source, H2 2026)
- Points/airdrop: Stage 5 airdrop claim window ran 9 Jun-9 Jul 2026. Remaining airdrop releases over about 80 months. (source, H2 2026)
Cost: 8/10
0% maker and 0.04% taker on standard perps, with 0.0125% taker on USD1-margined RWA pairs.
- Perps: 0% maker, 0.04% taker. USD1 BTC/ETH/SOL pairs: 0.04% taker. USD1 RWA pairs: 0.0125% taker. Paying fees in ASTER gives 5% off. (source, accessed 2026-11-14)
Compare
FAQ
Is Aster safe?
No perp DEX is risk-free. Perpd scores Aster 52/100 (Read the flags). Its main flag is exit risk (3/10).
How is Aster's score calculated?
Seven factors scored 0-10 from public sources (exit, security, liquidation, volume, access, token, cost), weighted and scaled to 100. The execution check joins once we have 7 daily snapshots.
Related
- Perp DEX fees compared: what a $100K trade really costsTaker and maker fees for 10 perp DEXs, plus measured slippage on $100K orders. Fees, not slippage, decide most of your cost.
- Jupiter Perps risk score: 83/100Jupiter Perps scores 83/100 on Perpd's Real Risk Score. Every factor, reason and source. Updated 14 Nov 2026.
- Variational risk score: 81/100Variational scores 81/100 on Perpd's Real Risk Score. Every factor, reason and source. Updated 14 Nov 2026.
- Lighter risk score: 75/100Lighter scores 75/100 on Perpd's Real Risk Score. Every factor, reason and source. Updated 14 Nov 2026.
Scores are never for sale. This page has no affiliate links and no paid placements. Not financial advice: perps are leveraged and you can lose more than you deposit.