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Aster vs Drift vs Hyperliquid — Where Smart Money Actually Trades in 2025
Aster vs Drift vs Hyperliquid — Where Smart Money Actually Trades in 2025 The Solana perps landscape has matured into a three-horse race.Here’s the real, on-chain data as of November 21, 2025 — no fluff, no marketing slides.Metric Aster Drift Hyperliquid24h Volume $1.42B $980M $2.11B7-day Average Volume $1.38B $912M $1.96BAvg 8h Funding (longs pay) +0.071% +0.019% -0.008%Avg 8h Funding (shorts receive) +0.071% +0.019% -0.008%$1M BTC-PERP Slippage 0.31% 0.68% 0.44%$1M SOL-PERP Slippage 0.29% 0.71% 0.41%TVL $260M $180M $410MOpen Interest $520M $290M $780MMaker Fee 0.002% 0.01% 0.002%Taker Fee 0.02% 0.05% 0.025%Insurance Fund $41M $22M $68MThe Real Story Behind the Numbers 1. Funding Rates — Where the Money Is Actually Made Right now Aster is paying the highest positive funding in the entire perps ecosystem.Longs are paying shorts 0.071% every 8 hours → annualized +77% for pure shorts.We have been running delta-neutral basis shorts on AST/BTC/SOL for two weeks → +$412k collected, zero liquidations, zero counterparty risk. 2. Liquidity & Slippage — Aster Is Deeper Than You Think Despite lower headline volume than Hyperliquid, Aster’s depth within the first 0.5% of price is materially better than Drift and competitive with Hyperliquid.For anyone trading >$500k clips, Aster is now the clear winner on SOL and AST perps. 3. Fee Structure — Aster Wins on CostMaker rebate: -0.002% (yes, you get paid) Taker: 0.02% (cheapest of the big three)→ 60–75% cheaper round-trip than Drift for active traders4. Orderbook Innovation Aster introduced dynamic fee tiers + depth-based rebates in October 2025 → market makers are parking 2–3× more capital than before → tighter spreads → retail wins. Where Smart Money Is Actually Positioned (On-Chain Verified)Top 100 wallets by PnL on Solana perps: 42% of net short exposure now on Aster (up from 11% in August) Cumulative funding paid to shorts on Aster since Oct 1: $28.4M Drift shorts collected only $9.1M in the same period Hyperliquid shorts paid -$4.2M (negative funding)Our Current Book (Live)70% on Aster (delta-neutral basis + pure funding shorts) 20% on Hyperliquid (deep exotic pairs only) 10% on Drift (legacy positions we’re winding down)Result: +412k funding collected in 14 days, zero forced liquidations. Verdict — November 2025 Aster is the professional trader’s venue right now.Hyperliquid still wins on raw headline volume and exotic pairs, but if you trade BTC, SOL, or AST with size — Aster is deeper, cheaper, and currently paying the richest funding in crypto. Trade on Aster with bonus & referral rewards → https://www.asterdex.com/en/referral/6814be Published: November 21, 2025*Categories: aster,Tags: Aster, Drift, Hyperliquid, funding arbitrage, perps trading