Traders Drive Billions in Volume on Aster: Wash Trading or Airdrop Farming?

Aster, a decentralized derivatives exchange, is drawing attention from the crypto community after just 10 traders generated $18.2 billion in trading volume. The figure is more than three times the total $5.6 billion handled by rival Hyperliquid.

A blockchain analyst ‘dethective’ in an X thread made this revelation after profiling the top addresses causing network activity. The extent of airdrop farming and wash trading has come under scrutiny due to the highly concentrated trade.

The leading wallet on Aster generated $4.2 billion in trading volume with a profit of merely $14,000. According to ‘dethective,’ the account already had significant capital, around $1.7 million, and appeared to belong to a firm rather than a single trader.

Additionally, two wallets, ranked fourth and sixth, were funded at the same time with identical amounts. Each managed $1.7 million in volume, sparking speculation that these “sybils” could target the largest token airdrop rewards.

High fees and market impact

Besides these concentrated trades, Aster is now one of the largest fee earners in the decentralized finance (DeFi) industry. According to DeFi Llama data, Aster generated $16.1 million in user‑paid fees over 24 hours.

Consequently, it ranked second globally, only behind Tether’s $22.2 million, which comes mainly from investments backing USDT reserves. Moreover, Aster outperformed Uniswap and Circle, which earned $8.37 million, and $7.68 million from asset yields, respectively.

On X, Aixbt stated that Aster’s valuation metrics are significantly different from Hyperliquid’s. Aster makes $20 million a day in fees and is valued at $3 billion.

Hyperliquid, on the other hand, carries a $12.1 billion valuation but earns only $1.17 million daily. Hence, Aster’s revenue multiple is 0.41× compared to Hyperliquid’s 28.4×, suggesting a major price correction or repricing could be imminent.

Token airdrop uncertainty

Additionally, Aster’s CEO Leonard confirmed that the team is weighing token vesting rules for its upcoming airdrop. “I think we reserve the right of doing it,” he said during a livestream.

“I think in the next two to three days, you can expect us to make a final decision and release that explanation.” This step could help reduce immediate sell pressure and align long‑term holders with the project’s growth.

Aster’s trading surge raises questions. However, its fee earnings indicate it is becoming a serious DeFi contender.