Aster vs Gate

Aster vs Gate: which to use

Aster vs Gate 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. Gate requires KYC before the futures account opens, holds your funds in an account, and charges 2 bp maker and 5 bp taker, with up to 200x. As of 1 October 2026 Gate lists more perp markets (1022 against 588), including more real-world assets. Custody, ID and the fee on market orders decide it for most traders.

How each exchange is built

Aster is a decentralized exchange (DEX) on BNB Chain. You trade from a self-custody wallet and it matches orders on a central limit order book. You hold your own funds.

Gate 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. Both books are order books, so the difference for you is custody: a wallet you control on Aster, an account at a company on Gate.

Fees and what they mean

Aster's base tier is 0 bp maker and 4 bp taker, per Aster's fee page. Gate's is 2 bp maker and 5 bp taker, per Gate's fee announcement.

A market order pays the taker fee to open and again to close: 8 bp per round trip on Aster, 10 bp on Gate. A limit order that rests on the book pays the maker fee instead: 0 bp on Aster, 2 bp on Gate.

Fees are only part of a trade's cost. Slippage, the price you move by eating through the order book, grows with size. 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 Gate lists 1022 active perps, 301 of them stocks, commodities, FX or other real-world assets. Aster lists 588, with 133 in that group.

Aster allows up to 300x and Gate up to 200x on their highest-leverage markets; most markets allow less. Both exchanges pay funding every 1 hour, 4 hours or 8 hours depending on the market. Check a market's interval before you hold it: an hourly market settles 24 times a day, an 8-hour market three times, so the same rate is paid in smaller, more frequent pieces. 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. Gate requires KYC before the futures account opens. An unverified account can only withdraw and close positions.

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. Burning ALP locks the withdrawal for 48 hours, and the mint and burn fee is 0.25% ± 0.05%. Aster's token is $ASTER, and as of 19 September 2026 its points and airdrop program was at "Stage 5". Gate's token is $GT.

Reading the numbers on this page

Gate publishes open interest as longs plus shorts, both sides of every position. Aster publishes one side. For the same positions Gate's figure reads about twice as large, so the open interest row and chart above are not a like-for-like comparison of size.

Gate has no TVL, as is usual for a centralized exchange, so that row and chart show Aster alone, as DefiLlama's figure 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 rest limit orders: 0 bp maker against 2 bp.
• Pick Aster if you trade with market orders: 4 bp taker against 5 bp.
• Pick Aster if you want up to 300x, or a vault (ALP) to deposit in.
• Pick Gate if you prefer an exchange account and accept KYC before the futures account opens.
• Pick Gate if you want a larger set of perps, 1022 markets with 301 real-world assets, on one exchange.

Open the BTC page to compare each exchange's funding, price, open interest and liquidity for one asset.