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Custody risk: contracts upgradeable by a single key — 2026-07-20. Per L2BEAT, edgeX runs as a StarkEx Validium (sharing a proof program with ApeX), and its central contracts can be upgraded by an externally-owned account — a single key — with no exit window; L2BEAT's own risk summary warns this “could result in the loss of all funds,” and notes the central contract is unverified on Etherscan. Separately, the EDGE token fell ~70–77% over 2026-06-01/02 in an episode edgeX attributed to concentrated selling into a thin liquidity pool rather than a protocol hack. edgeX is operating; this is a standing risk to weigh, not an outage. ( L2BEAT )

⚠︎ Risk warning: leveraged derivatives on unregulated platforms — you can lose everything you deposit. Not investment advice.

Comparison · By · Updated 2026-09-09

Aster vs edgeX (2026): Published vs App-Only Fees

Both are order-book perp DEXs with live tokens and large market lists, and that is where the symmetry ends. Aster publishes its fee schedule, its funding intervals through the API, and a points programme with a documented airdrop link. edgeX's documentation, on the verification date, carried no fee schedule and no points programme; its rates are visible only after sign-in. This page compares what both publish and says plainly where one does not.

Verdict

Aster can be priced before you deposit; edgeX cannot. Aster's 0% maker and published taker rates set a number; edgeX sets none, so no honest comparison of cost exists. On tokens, both are live: $ASTER with a published airdrop category and an active Stage 6, EDGE with an airdrop already executed and a buyback-burn but no current programme documented. Pick Aster if verifiable cost or an active points path matters; treat edgeX as a venue you must open to price.

At a glance

Aster versus edgeX, compared across key dimensions
Aster edgeX
Custody Self-custody Not independently verified
Base perp fees 0.04% (USDT-margined) / 0.005% (USD1-margined) / 0% t/m Not published / Not published t/m
Token $ASTER · live (TGE claim window 17 Sep – 17 Oct 2025) EDGE · live
Points programme Active · Aster Convergence: Stage 6 None documented

facts verified · each venue's official docs Every cell restates a claim on one of this site's pages: /compare/hyperliquid-vs-aster/ , /aster/fees/ , /compare/hyperliquid-vs-edgex/ , /airdrops/ .

Fees

Aster — Order-book maker/taker; two perp contract families with different taker rates. Base tier: 0.04% (USDT-margined) / 0.005% (USD1-margined) taker, 0% maker. Taker numeric uses the USDT-margined family; USD1-margined trades at 0.005% — pick per family when calculating. Discounts: Referral rebate up to 10% (referrer-configured split, not guaranteed); ASTER-token fee payment discount exists as a separate lever. 0% maker means maker-heavy flow pays nothing — and generates no referral commission. Schedule verified 2026-07-31 on /aster/fees/.

edgeX — Order-book with daily 30-day volume tiers. Base tier: Not published taker, Not published maker. edgeX does not publish a fee schedule — rates are visible only inside the app, so there is no figure to quote or calculate with. Discounts: Not published. The schedule being app-only means you cannot compare edgeX on price before signing up. We do not estimate it. Schedule verified 2026-07-17 on /compare/hyperliquid-vs-edgex/.

Base-tier rates answer one narrow question — what a small taker order costs on day one. Your maker/taker mix, volume tier and holding period decide the real number; the fee comparison lays all twelve venues side by side and the execution-cost tool adds live slippage on top.

Markets they share

In this site's market join, snapshot 2026-09-02, Aster lists 538 perp markets and edgeX lists 167; 131 appear on both. The market index shows every asset with the venues that list it and each venue's published leverage, and the join is refreshed weekly by a fail-closed pipeline. Breadth is not depth: a listing says nothing about how much size a book absorbs, which the execution-cost tool measures live where a venue publishes its order book.

Token and points

Both rows are restated from the points & airdrop tracker, which is re-read against each venue's docs on a 45-day cadence and never prices a point.

Where Aster wins

Transparency and the points path. The fee grid, the per-symbol funding intervals and the Stage 6 mechanics are all on docs pages this site has read and dated, and the tokenomics publish a 53.5% Airdrop category even though Stage 6's share is not stated. Aster also lists more perp markets than edgeX in this site's join.

Where edgeX wins

Two verified product details and a completed distribution. edgeX's docs describe gas covered on V1 and sub-accounts that aggregate into one fee tier, both recorded on this site's Hyperliquid vs edgeX page. Its EDGE token has already been airdropped to eligible users and is bought back and burned from revenue, so the token side is settled rather than pending. None of that tells you what a trade costs.

What this site could not verify

Which to pick

If you want to know your cost before funding an account, or you want a running points programme with a documented airdrop link, Aster. If you already trade on edgeX and can see its schedule, compare it against Aster's published rates yourself; this site will not estimate an unpublished one. The Aster review carries the full Aster mechanics.

Related comparisons

FAQ

Why is there no edgeX fee figure?

Because edgeX does not publish one. Its rates are shown inside the app after sign-in, and a number this site has not read on an official page does not get printed.

Does edgeX still have a points programme?

Not in the documentation read on the verification date. Its token page records a historical "Pre TGE Season" as an allocation label only, and EDGE has already been distributed.

Is Aster's airdrop guaranteed?

Its docs commit Stage 6 points to an $ASTER airdrop share, but the conversion ratio, Stage 6's share of the allocation and the end date are unpublished. The tracker keeps the row dated and never prices a point.

Open Aster → (opens in a new tab)

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