| Line | Aster | GMX |
|---|---|---|
| 30-day volume | #P02 · $64,919.0MEdge | #P07 · $22,518.0M |
| Trading fees | 0.04% taker · 0% makerBase tier on the standard VIP schedule. Selected"Group B" crypto pairs are charged 0.1% taker, RWA pairs a flat 1.25 bps, and USD1-quoted pairs have their own schedule. Every maker fee is 0 bps. | 0.04% to 0.06% per open or closeThere is no maker/taker split: the position fee is 0.04% when your trade reduces the imbalance between long and short open interest and 0.06% when it increases it, charged on open, close, increase and decrease. TradFi markets have their own rates (GOLD, SILVER and oil trade at 0.01%/0.02% during on-hours). Price impact, hourly borrow fees and swaps are billed on top. |
| New-user perk | You choose how the 10% default commission is split, so part of it can be returned to the referee as a fee discount | 5% or 10% off opening and closing fees depending on the tier of the code you use |
| Max leverage | up to 1001×Edge | up to 100× |
| Perp markets | 610Edge | 132 |
| Identity check | Not documented | No KYC |
| Custody | Non-custodial, wallet or email login | Non-custodial, wallet only |
| Settles on | Aster Chain (own L1) | Arbitrum (GMX V2 contracts) |
| Collateral | USDC, USDT | USDC, USDT, WETH |
| Where it runs | Web, iOS, Android | Web |
| Chains | EVMBNB Chain | EVMArbitrum, Avalanche, MegaETH, Ethereum, Base, BNB ChainEdge |
| Documented features | 9 of 10Edge | 4 of 10 |
| Order book | Yes | No |
| Cross margin | Yes | Not documented |
| Spot trading | Yes | Yes |
| Vaults / copy vaults | Yes | Yes |
| Copy trading | Yes | Not documented |
| Stocks, gold or forex | Yes | Yes |
| Points program | Yes | No |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Not documented |
| Telegram bot | Not documented | Not documented |
Which one should you pick?
Pick Aster if
You trade from a phone and want a large book of crypto, stock and commodity perps.
Second-largest perp venue in the set and one of the cheapest for takers: 0.04% on the main book, 0% for makers. The trade-off is volume quality: DefiLlama's normalized figure is far below the reported one, and the points campaigns pay for activity.
asterdex.com
Pick GMX if
You want oracle pricing with no spread hunting, on Arbitrum, and you trade the lighter side of the market.
GMX prices trades against pooled liquidity and Chainlink oracles rather than a book, so its cost structure looks like a swap: an open/close fee that varies with the balance of open interest, plus borrow and price impact. It is the cheapest venue in the series for a trader who systematically takes the lighter side.
app.gmx.io
