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Comparison · By Stephan Kulik · Updated 2026-09-09

Aster vs Pacifica (2026): Two Points Programmes Compared

Both venues are order books whose weekly points programmes draw much of their traffic, so this comparison starts with what each programme's documentation actually says. Aster's Stage 6 points accumulate toward an $ASTER airdrop share, with the ratio unpublished. Pacifica distributes a fixed pool every week to organic traders, with self-trading excluded, and makes no conversion or token statement. Underneath, Aster is a BNB Chain book with 0% maker; Pacifica matches off-chain on Solana with volume-tiered fees.

At a glance

✓ facts verified 2026-07-16 · each venue's official docs Every cell restates a claim on one of this site's pages: /compare/hyperliquid-vs-aster/ , /aster/fees/ , /pacifica/ , /pacifica/how-to-start/ , /pacifica/fees/ , /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/.

Pacifica — Order-book maker/taker; volume tiers. Base tier: 0.040% → 0.028% (by tier) taker, 0.015% → 0% (by tier) maker. Numerics are the entry tier; both rates improve with volume. Discounts: Eight 30-day-volume tiers take taker to 0.028% and maker to 0% (VIP 1 from $100M); a verified tier from another exchange can be carried over for 30 days; no token discount. Schedule verified 2026-09-11 on /pacifica/fees/.

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 Pacifica lists 75; 69 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

• Aster: $ASTER · live (TGE claim window 17 Sep – 17 Oct 2025). Points: Active — Aster Convergence: Stage 6; Calculated weekly; five point categories × team boost, plus two-level referral points; weightings undisclosed. Docs: points "accumulate toward your $ASTER airdrop share at the conclusion of Stage 6". Conversion ratio, Stage 6’s share and the end date are not published.
• Pacifica: None documented. Points: Active — Points program; 10,000,000 points/week; snapshots Thursdays 00:00 UTC; organic trading only, self-trading and sybil activity excluded. No conversion or token-launch statement in the docs fetched.

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

The token and the airdrop link: $ASTER is live, the tokenomics publish a 53.5% Airdrop category, and Stage 6 points accumulate toward a share of it per the docs. Fees: 0% maker from the first trade against Pacifica's tiered maker rate, and a lower taker rate on the USD1 family. Market breadth: the largest perp list in this site's join.

Where Pacifica wins

Programme clarity and published risk parameters. A fixed weekly pool, a stated snapshot time, and an explicit exclusion of self-trading and sybil activity; Aster's Stage 6 page says its weightings and formulas remain undisclosed. Pacifica publishes hourly funding with a 4% cap and a 3–50x leverage range, both verified on this site's Hyperliquid vs Pacifica page.

What this site could not verify

• Aster: US access rules — not verified either way.
• Aster: Liquidity depth — not benchmarked by this site.
• Aster: The points-to-token ratio, Stage 6’s share of the airdrop allocation, and the stage’s end date — unpublished.
• Pacifica: No token is confirmed live; the docs make no conversion or launch statement.
• Pacifica: Insurance fund — the liquidation docs describe a backstop liquidator, not a fund; market count — four different official figures (2026-09-11).

Which to pick

If you are trading for points and want them tied to a live token, Aster, with the caveat that the conversion ratio and Stage 6's share are unpublished. If you want a programme whose rules you can read in full and a Solana-native book, Pacifica, with the caveat that no token is confirmed. On fees, Aster is cheaper at the base tier on both sides for the USD1 family. The Aster review holds the full mechanics.

Related comparisons

• Aster vs dYdX
• Aster vs edgeX
• Aster vs Paradex
• Aster vs Extended
• Aster vs GMX
• Hyperliquid vs Aster
• Hyperliquid vs Pacifica

FAQ

Does Pacifica have a token?

Not one confirmed live in its docs on the verification date, and no launch or conversion statement was found. Points are earned by organic trading only.

Is Aster's Stage 6 airdrop guaranteed?

The docs commit points to an $ASTER airdrop share at the conclusion of Stage 6; the ratio, Stage 6's share of the allocation and the end date are unpublished. The tracker dates both rows and never prices a point.

Which has lower fees?

Aster for makers at any size, and for takers on the USD1 family. Pacifica's maker rate reaches 0% only at the top of its volume ladder; its taker rate does not.