Aster vs BloFin

Aster or BloFin: which to use

Aster vs BloFin is a decentralized exchange against a centralized one. On Aster you trade from a self-custody wallet without ID, at 0 bp maker and 4 bp taker, with up to 300x. BloFin holds your funds in an account at the company, charges 2 bp maker and 6 bp taker, and offers up to 150x. BloFin starts you without ID but caps withdrawals at 20,000 USDT a day until you verify. As of 1 October 2026 Aster lists more markets. Custody, fees and withdrawal limits are where the two differ most.

How each exchange is built

Aster is a decentralized exchange (DEX) on BNB Chain. It matches orders on a central limit order book. You trade from a self-custody wallet, so your funds stay in your wallet rather than in an account at a company.

BloFin is a centralized exchange (CEX): you open an account with the company, and the account holds your funds. It also matches orders on a central limit order book.

The difference is who holds the funds while you trade.

Fees and what they mean

Aster's base tier is 0 bp maker and 4 bp taker, per Aster's fee page. BloFin's is 2 bp maker and 6 bp taker, per BloFin's fee page.

A market order pays the taker fee to open and again to close: 8 bp per round trip on Aster, 12 bp on BloFin. A limit order that rests on the book pays the maker fee instead, 0 bp on Aster and 2 bp on BloFin.

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 Aster lists 588 active perps, 133 of them stocks, commodities, FX or other real-world assets. BloFin lists 495, 115 of them real-world assets.

Aster allows up to 300x and BloFin up to 150x on their highest-leverage markets; most markets allow less. BloFin applies no leverage limit to futures without ID.

Both exchanges pay funding every 1 hour, 4 hours or 8 hours depending on the market, so check a market's interval before you hold it. An hourly market settles 24 times a day, an 8-hour market three times, which changes how quickly a funding payment accrues against your position. The list further down this page shows the markets both exchanges have and each one's funding rate.

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.

BloFin limits access without ID: trading starts without ID, inside limits that verification lifts. You can trade futures without ID and with no leverage limit, but withdrawals are capped at 20,000 USDT a day until you verify.

Vaults, token and points

Aster runs ALP (Aster Liquidity Pool), a vault run by the exchange. It takes the other side of traders' positions, so its depositors carry the traders' profit and loss. Burning ALP locks for 48 hours, and the mint and burn fee is 0.25% ± 0.05%.

Aster's token is $ASTER. As of 19 September 2026 its points and airdrop program was at "Stage 5".

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.

BloFin, a centralized exchange, publishes no TVL, so the TVL row and chart show Aster alone. For Aster that figure is DefiLlama's number for the deposits its bridge holds.

Which one fits you

• Pick Aster if you want to keep funds in your own wallet and trade without ID.
• Pick Aster if you trade with limit orders: 0 bp maker against 2 bp.
• Pick Aster if you want up to 300x or a wider list of markets, 588 against 495 as of 1 October 2026.
• Pick BloFin if you prefer an exchange account at a company and can live with the 20,000 USDT daily withdrawal cap until you verify.
• Pick BloFin if you want to trade futures without ID and with no leverage limit, with up to 150x.
• Pick BloFin if you prefer a centralized exchange.