TRON's weekly average on-chain transaction fee has dropped from 2.47 TRX to 0.72 TRX.

Key Takeaways The transition to utility in the crypto sector has set a new path for 2026, emphasizing…

The decentralized derivatives trading platform Aster held a community AMA event titled "Aster's Roadmap Unfolds: Milestones, Missions, And The Future" on November 10th at 1:00 PM UTC, synchronously on Discord and X (formerly Twitter).

The event was hosted by Ember, Aster's Partnership Lead, with Leonard, Aster's CEO, as the core guest. During a deep one-hour conversation, Leonard not only reviewed the platform's recent milestone achievements but also provided a detailed disclosure to the global community about Aster's upcoming privacy-focused Layer 1 (L1) mainnet plan. He also engaged in open and in-depth discussions with the community on core topics such as tokenomics, global market expansion, and liquidity strategies.

Leonard first reflected on Aster's recent months of technical iterations and market performance. As a senior professional with a traditional finance background who has worked on building a stock trading risk engine, Leonard emphasized the Aster team's efficient execution in technology deployment.

He stated that Aster has recently successfully launched several core features, including Hidden Orders, a new Buyback System, Spot Trading, and Stock & Index Perpetual Contracts.

Simultaneously, the platform not only initiated the "Rocket Launch" launchpad program but also started the fourth phase of the airdrop event. Leonard said, "Every step Aster takes has been greatly reshaped by community feedback. Through these tangible product deliveries, we aim to give back value to our supporters."

The highlight of this AMA was undoubtedly Leonard's in-depth explanation of Aster's Layer 1 mainnet vision. In response to the community's question about "why not continue to just be a DEX but develop a standalone L1," Leonard said, "Our mission is to completely rebuild the centralized exchange (CEX) experience on-chain."

Leonard stated that the current general-purpose blockchain is not designed for the ultimate trading experience, and Aster needs a blockchain that can directly embed order book logic into the protocol layer. However, he also raised an industry pain point: is a fully transparent on-chain order book (such as the Hyperliquid model) really the ultimate solution?

Leonard referenced recent industry discussions about how excessive transparency in Perp DEX led to ineffective trading strategies and made traders vulnerable to attacks. He revealed that Aster swiftly launched a hidden order system only 10 days after the discussions started. He emphasized, "Privacy is a fundamental right. For many professional traders and institutions, being able to protect their trading signals by not exposing them through a public order book is crucial for the effectiveness of their strategies."

Aster L1's design philosophy is similar to Zcash, aiming to address institutional traders' pain points by combining a high-performance Central Limit Order Book (CLOB) blockchain with privacy options. The Aster public chain plans to complete internal testing by the end of this year and is expected to officially launch its mainnet in the first quarter of 2026."

Regarding L1's performance and economic model, Leonard revealed that Aster L1 will provide throughput comparable to a centralized database, but the real game-changer is the differentiated value brought by the "privacy options." In terms of the economic model, L1 will achieve nearly zero Gas fees and incentivize validators and stakers through ecosystem allocation and protocol-generated transaction fees, building a self-sustaining economic ecosystem.

Addressing the community's most pressing concern about $ASTER token empowerment, Leonard provided a clear timeline and use cases in an AMA. He promised that in the next two quarters, the team would focus on concrete token utility implementation.

Currently, fee discounts, airdrop benefits, and VIP levels are already live. With the launch of L1, staking and governance will become the core utilities of the token (15). Leonard explained in detail that the staking feature is expected to go live simultaneously with L1, where validators will maintain network security and earn rewards, while token holders can stake through delegation to share rewards and participate in community governance.

Furthermore, to provide value even before L1's launch, Aster is exploring partnerships with lending protocols (such as Lista, Venus) to create additional earnings for ASTER token holders through a "Trade & Earn" model. Leonard emphasized, "These utilities are independent of the chain release and aim to provide ongoing value capture for long-term holders."

When discussing liquidity and institutional fund introduction, Leonard showcased his macro view as a former traditional finance professional. He believes that Aster's competitors are not other Perp DEXes, but rather the centralized exchanges that still dominate the space.

“Institutions adopt new technology at a slower pace and prioritize fund security and risk management. However, after the FTX incident, everyone realized that 'Self-custody' can fundamentally reduce counterparty risk,” analyzed Leonard. By providing a highly capital-efficient "Trade & Earn" design (e.g., supporting USDF as collateral), Aster allows institutions to earn substantial yield in large-scale fund operations.

Regarding liquidity building, Leonard stated that Aster has significantly improved the depth of top assets such as BTC, ETH, SOL through a Market Maker Program. Next, the incentive mechanism will tilt towards long-tail assets to enhance the trading experience of small-cap coins and welcome more liquidity providers to join.

Regarding global expansion, Leonard revealed in his response that Aster has established a strong foundation in the Asian market, with successful partnerships in the Korean market providing a replicable template. Currently, the team is actively expanding into the Western European and North American markets by hosting offline events in New York in partnership with BNB Chain and recruiting local talent well-versed in the local culture to build trading products that align with local user habits.

On the asset side, Aster has launched the "Rocket Launch" platform, dedicated to providing liquidity support for early-stage projects in the Pre-TGE stage; for Post-TGE projects, customized trading events are used to guide liquidity. Leonard emphasized, “We are not just a trading platform but also the discoverer and booster of early-quality assets.”

In the final segment of the AMA, Leonard conducted a rapid-fire round to address specific technical details that the community was concerned about:

Regarding the multi-asset margin model: Leonard clearly stated that the platform currently focuses on a USDT-based and multi-asset full-collateralization model. Although the inverse contract (Coin/Inverse margin) is on the roadmap, it will be launched after the current system is further perfected.

Regarding the L1 Exact Timeline: The team has set an ambitious goal, planning to complete the testnet preparation by the end of 2025 or early 2026, with the mainnet release window locked in for the first quarter of 2026.

Regarding the Buyback Burn Mechanism: Aster has currently conducted buybacks on the open market to ensure transparency. In the future, this mechanism will migrate to Aster L1, where the size, price, and account of each transaction will be on-chain verifiable, eliminating frontrunning risks, and gradually evolving into a programmatic stabilization mechanism.