- Aster overtakes Hyperliquid in daily trading volume.
- The promise of another token airdrop is drawing in traders.
- Aster isn't the first DeFi protocol to try such a strategy.
Aster has overtaken Hyperliquid in trading volume over the past 24 hours as traders pile onto the platform following its announcement of a second token airdrop.
The perpetual futures exchange registered $13.5 billion in trading volume, compared to Hyperliquid’s $9.6 billion, per DefiLlama data.
On Monday, Aster told users that it had redesigned its airdrop points campaign to make it more rewarding.
Those who trade on the platform can earn points, which will convert into Aster tokens when the campaign ends on October 5.
Aster launched a rebranded version of its token on September 17. It has since soared almost 2,000% and trades at a market value of $3.3 billion.
What is Aster?
Aster is backed by YZi Labs, a family office run by Changpeng Zhao, the former Binance CEO, and his long-term life partner and fellow Binance co-founder Yi He.
YZi Labs was formerly called Binance Labs, and acted as the venture arm of the Binance crypto exchange. It changed its name after Zhao was released from prison in September after pleading guilty to violating money laundering requirements in the US.
Zhao has used his star power to hype up his investment in Aster, which runs on BNB Chain, the Binance-affiliated blockchain.
Drawing in users with the promise of free tokens isn’t a new strategy for crypto exchanges.
Hyperliquid, the biggest perpetual futures exchange with $2.7 trillion in lifetime trading volume, ran a similar campaign for months before launching its HYPE token in November.
Vampire attack
Aster isn’t the first DeFi protocol attempting to beat an incumbent at its own game.
Sushiswap, a decentralised exchange, famously tried a similar tactic against rival exchange Uniswap in 2020. The practice is known in DeFi circles as a “vampire attack.”
At the time, Sushiswap juiced the yields users could earn by providing liquidity on the exchange by giving out valuable SUSHI tokens, in addition to the fees they earned on trades.
The strategy initially worked, and Sushiswap came close to overtaking Uniswap in deposits. But once demand for the SUSHI token dried up it struggled to compete.
Sushiswap now handles around $2.3 billion in monthly trading volume compared to Uniswap’s $108 billion, per DefiLlama data.
Whether Aster will be able to retain its lead over Hyperliquid remains to be seen. The exchange said it plans to run a third airdrop campaign after its second one ends.
Tim Craig is DL News’ Edinburgh-based DeFi Correspondent. Reach out with tips at tim@dlnews.com.
