Aster vs Variational
Same lines, side by side: fees, leverage, markets, KYC, custody and referral perks, from official pages and DefiLlama.
| Line | Aster | Variational |
|---|---|---|
| 30-day volume | #P02 · $64,919.0MEdge | #P04 · $50,872.0M |
| 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% trading feesOmni charges no trading fee: the venue keeps the market-making spread instead. Deposits and withdrawals cost a flat $0.10 in USDC, and a forced liquidation is executed 0.5% away from the bid or ask.Edge |
| 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 | 1 point for every 10 points earned |
| Max leverage | up to 1001×Edge | Not documented |
| Perp markets | 610Edge | 500 |
| Identity check | Not documented | No KYC |
| Custody | Non-custodial, wallet or email login | Non-custodial, EVM wallet, gasless deposits |
| Settles on | Aster Chain (own L1) | Arbitrum (Variational settlement pools) |
| Collateral | USDC, USDT | USDC |
| Where it runs | Web, iOS, Android | Web |
| Chains | EVMBNB Chain | EVMArbitrum |
| Documented features | 9 of 10Edge | 4 of 10 |
| Order book | Yes | No |
| Cross margin | Yes | Yes |
| Spot trading | Yes | No |
| Vaults / copy vaults | Yes | Yes |
| Copy trading | Yes | Not documented |
| Stocks, gold or forex | Yes | Yes |
| Points program | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Not documented |
| Mobile app | Yes | Not documented |
| Telegram bot | Not documented | No |
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 Variational if
You want one cross-margined account for crypto, equities, commodities and forex with no visible trading fee.
A zero-fee venue built on RFQ rather than an order book: the platform earns the spread it quotes, so your real cost is the price you accept, not a line on a fee schedule.
omni.variational.io
