Hyperliquid vs Aster : The 2025 Perp DEX Wars – Who Really Won?
TODAY I'M BREAKING DOWN ONE OF THE MOST INTENSE AND VIRAL RIVALRIES IN CRYPTO 2025: HYPERLIQUID vs BINANCE (through its backed contender Aster).This will be detailed, so buckle up!Hyperliquid launched as a high-performance perp DEX on its own L1 chain. It started strong, but exploded in late 2024/early 2025 with the $HYPE token launch and massive airdrop (one of the biggest ever, with ~85K+ eligible users). Community hype was insane — $HYPE pumped to an ATH of ~$59 in September 2025, hitting headlines everywhere. Traders even withdrew from major CEXs like Binance to farm points and trade on Hyperliquid.This sparked the real perp DEX revolution in 2025. Then came Aster — a perp DEX with deep ties to the former Binance ecosystem, strong CZ endorsement (he personally bought millions in $ASTER tokens), integration with Binance Wallet, and a killer points/rewards program.Aster launched in September 2025 at low prices and rocketed 2800%+ in a week to ~$2.4, briefly dominating daily volumes in some metrics. It quickly gained traction with features like high leverage (up to 1000x+), yield-bearing collateral, hidden orders, and stock perps.The October 10, 2025 market crash (a brutal $19B+ liquidation event) highlighted the differences:Hyperliquid stayed fully online, transparent (everything on-chain), and even profited heavily from liquidations via its HLP vault.
Binance (CEX side) faced outages/throttling issues and paid out $283M+ in user compensations.
Aster's growth continued — TVL and volume climbed steadily despite being much younger, fueled by BNB Chain support and CZ's influence.Hyperliquid faced challenges: competition heated up, $HYPE corrected sharply from ATH (currently trading ~$25-26 as of mid-Jan 2026), and some big traders (like legendary whale "White Whale") shifted focus or left for other platforms like Lighter.Community drama flared on X — accusations of FUD from both sides, backlash against traders moving platforms, and endless debates.In the end? This wasn't a fair fight.Binance didn't need to "fight" directly — CZ's endorsement + ecosystem integrations gave Aster massive momentum. Hyperliquid built an incredible product (still dominates decentralized perps with huge cumulative volume), but the narrative and capital flow favored the Binance-backed player.Binance won this round without even trying hard.What do you think?
Is Hyperliquid still the king of on-chain perps, or has Aster (and CZ's shadow) taken over in 2026?Drop your takes below!