Aster vs Binance

Aster or Binance: which to use

Aster vs Binance is a decentralized exchange against a centralized one. On Aster you trade from your own wallet without ID, at 0 bp maker and 4 bp taker and up to 300x. Binance requires verified identity to deposit or trade, holds your funds in an account, and charges 2 bp maker and 5 bp taker on crypto perps, with up to 150x. Both list long menus: Aster 588 markets with 133 real-world assets, Binance 783 with 213. Pick Aster to trade from a wallet without ID; pick Binance if you prefer an account and accept verification.

How each exchange is built

Aster is a decentralized exchange (DEX) on BNB Chain: you connect a self-custody wallet instead of opening an account. Binance is a centralized exchange (CEX): you open an account with the company, and the account holds your funds. Both match orders on a central limit order book, where resting bids and asks wait until another trader fills them.

Fees and what they mean

Aster charges 0 bp maker and 4 bp taker, per Aster's fee page. Binance charges 2 bp maker and 5 bp taker on crypto perps, per Binance's fee page. Binance's stock and commodity perps charge regular users 0 maker and 0.04% taker, "until further notice" as of 29 September 2026.

A market order pays the taker fee to open and again to close: 8 bp per round trip on Aster, 10 bp on Binance's crypto perps and 8 bp on its stock and commodity perps. A limit order that rests on the book pays the maker fee instead, nothing on Aster.

Fees are only part of a trade's cost. Slippage, the price you move by eating through the order book, grows with size and depends on each book's depth. The cost table above adds both at each size from $1k to $5M, and every exchange's trading cost is compared on one page.

Markets and leverage

As of 1 October 2026 Binance lists 783 active perps and Aster 588; Binance's include 213 stocks, commodities, FX or other real-world assets, Aster's 133. The list further down this page shows which markets both exchanges have and each one's funding rate.

Aster allows up to 300x and Binance up to 150x on their highest-leverage markets; most markets allow less. A Binance futures account under 30 days old is capped at 20x. Both pay funding every hour, 4 hours or 8 hours depending on the market, and the same coin can settle on a different schedule on each, so check both intervals before you hold a position.

Who can use them

Aster asks for no ID to trade, though its terms keep a right to limited checks; it is closed to the US, Canada, the UK, China, Russia, Ukraine and sanctioned countries. Binance requires verified KYC to deposit or trade.

Vaults, tokens and points

Aster runs ALP (Aster Liquidity Pool), a vault that takes the other side of traders' positions, so its depositors carry the traders' profit and loss. A burn is locked for 48 hours and minting or burning costs 0.25% ± 0.05%. Aster's token is $ASTER, and as of 19 September 2026 its points program was at Stage 5. Binance's token is $BNB.

Reading the numbers on this page

Both exchanges publish open interest as one side of open positions, so the open interest row and chart above compare like with like. Binance publishes no TVL, as is usual for a centralized exchange, so that row and chart show Aster alone, as DefiLlama's figure for its bridge.

Which one fits you

• Pick Aster if you want to keep funds in your own wallet and trade without ID.
• Pick Aster if you place limit orders, which pay 0 bp maker, or market orders on crypto perps at 4 bp taker against 5 bp.
• Pick Aster if you need more than 150x, on the markets that offer it.
• Pick Binance if you prefer an exchange account and accept identity verification.
• Pick Binance if you want the longer list: 783 markets, 213 of them real-world assets.