FAQ
EVERYTHING YOU
NEED TO KNOW.
About Aster DeFi and Ethereum DeFi
What is Aster DeFi? +
Aster DeFi is a full-stack decentralized exchange and DeFi protocol built on Ethereum mainnet. It combines smart-order-routed token swaps, concentrated liquidity pools, ETH liquid staking, cross-chain bridging to 14+ networks, and real yield rewards in one non-custodial platform. Available at aster-defi.com.
How do I swap ERC-20 tokens on Aster DeFi? +
Connect your Ethereum wallet (MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, Rabby, Ledger, or WalletConnect), select your input and output tokens, enter the amount, review the route and price impact, and click Swap. Aster's smart router automatically finds the best price across Aster's own pools, Uniswap v3, Curve, Balancer, and more. The transaction confirms on Ethereum in ~12 seconds.
What are Aster DeFi's trading fees? +
Aster DeFi charges a base swap fee of 0.05% on all token swaps — one of the lowest among Ethereum DEXs. Pool fee tiers range from 0.01% (stable pairs like USDC/USDT) to 1% (exotic/illiquid pairs). All fees are distributed 100% to liquidity providers and ASTR stakers. There is no protocol treasury fee.
Has Aster DeFi been audited? Is it safe? +
Yes. Aster DeFi has been audited by Trail of Bits, OpenZeppelin, Certora (formal verification), Halborn, and Pashov Audit Group — five independent top-tier security firms. All smart contracts are open-source. The protocol has secured over $820M TVL without any security incidents. A $10M bug bounty is active on Immunefi.
What Ethereum wallets work with Aster DeFi? +
Aster DeFi supports all major Ethereum wallets via the EIP-1193 wallet standard: MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, Rabby, Rainbow, Argent, Gnosis Safe, Frame, Ledger (hardware), Trezor (hardware), and any wallet supporting WalletConnect v2. The interface also supports account abstraction wallets via EIP-4337.
How does concentrated liquidity work on Aster DeFi? +
Aster uses a Concentrated Liquidity Market Maker (CLMM) where LPs choose custom price ranges to concentrate capital. This is 5–8× more capital-efficient than traditional AMMs. A smaller amount of ETH and USDC placed in the 1800–2400 range earns the same fees as a much larger traditional AMM position — but only while the price stays in range.
What is the ASTR token and how do I earn it? +
ASTR is Aster DeFi's native governance and incentive token on Ethereum. You earn ASTR by trading (trading reward program), providing liquidity (LP emissions), referring users (20% of referee fees), and through governance participation. ASTR can be staked for additional APY or locked as veASTR for boosted yields, fee revenue share, and voting power.
How does ETH liquid staking work on Aster DeFi? +
Stake ETH to receive stETH — a liquid, yield-bearing ERC-20 token at 4.8% APY. Unlike native staked ETH, stETH is immediately liquid: use it as collateral on Aave or Compound, provide stETH/ETH liquidity, bridge it to L2s, or swap it back to ETH at any time. Aster runs a diversified set of Ethereum validator nodes with slashing insurance.
What is stETH and how is it different from ETH? +
stETH is Aster's liquid staking token (LST) representing your staked ETH plus accumulated validator rewards. It earns yield automatically — you receive more ETH value over time without doing anything. Unlike regular ETH, stETH appreciates relative to ETH as staking rewards accrue. It's an ERC-20 token fully composable with all Ethereum DeFi protocols.
How does the Aster cross-chain bridge work? +
Aster Bridge uses Axelar's cross-chain messaging protocol as its security foundation, combined with Aster's routing layer for optimal rates. When you bridge ETH from Ethereum to Arbitrum, for example, your ETH is locked in an audited Ethereum vault and canonical ETH is released on the destination chain. Transfer times range from 2–12 minutes depending on destination.
Which chains does Aster DeFi's bridge support? +
Aster Bridge supports 14+ chains: Ethereum mainnet ↔ Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Polygon, BNB Chain, Avalanche, Fantom, zkSync Era, Linea, Scroll, Mantle, Solana, and NEAR. New chains are added via governance proposals. All supported routes and live bridge volume are visible in the Bridge section at aster-defi.com.
What is impermanent loss and how does Aster help LPs manage it? +
Impermanent loss (IL) occurs when the price ratio of pooled tokens changes from your deposit price. Aster's CLMM lets you define a narrow price range, so you only experience IL when the price moves within your range — and earn maximum fees. Active position management tools notify you when your range goes out of range, and ASTR reward emissions often more than offset IL in high-volume pools.
How does Aster achieve best swap prices on Ethereum? +
Aster's Smart Order Routing (SOR) engine simultaneously reads liquidity from Aster's CLMM pools, Uniswap v3, Curve Finance, Balancer, DODO, and more — then mathematically optimizes the split across pools for maximum output. A $100K ETH→USDC swap routed through Aster consistently beats routing through any single DEX alone.
What is the gas cost of using Aster DeFi? +
Gas costs depend on Ethereum network conditions (current gas price in gwei) and the complexity of your trade. A simple ETH→USDC swap typically costs $1–6 at 20 gwei. Aster optimizes calldata and batches operations to minimize gas vs. manual multi-hop swaps. For very gas-sensitive trades, use Aster on Arbitrum or Optimism for sub-$0.10 transactions.
Does Aster DeFi have MEV protection on Ethereum? +
Yes. Aster integrates with MEV Blocker and Flashbots Protect for private transaction submission, routing trades through Ethereum's private mempool to prevent sandwich attacks and front-running. You can optionally enable "MEV Shield" in settings, which submits your transaction privately and is recommended for swaps over $10K.
How do liquidity mining rewards work on Aster? +
ASTR token emissions are distributed to liquidity providers in select pools every epoch (24 hours). Emission rates per pool are voted on by veASTR holders each week. On top of ASTR emissions, LPs earn 100% of trading fees in the pool. Both fee income and ASTR rewards are claimable at any time from the Earn tab without any lock-up.
What is veASTR and why should I lock ASTR? +
veASTR (vote-escrowed ASTR) is received when you lock ASTR for a period between 1 week and 4 years. Benefits scale with lock duration: up to 3× boosted LP APR, 50% share of all protocol trading fees paid in ETH, and proportional voting power over governance proposals and weekly pool emission votes. The longer you lock, the more veASTR and benefits you receive.
Is Aster DeFi fully decentralized? +
Yes. Aster DeFi's smart contracts are deployed on Ethereum, are fully non-upgradeable without governance, and have no admin keys. The frontend at aster-defi.com points to immutable on-chain contracts. Governance is 100% controlled by veASTR holders via on-chain Ethereum voting with a 72-hour timelock on all changes. The team cannot unilaterally modify the protocol.
What ERC-20 tokens can I trade on Aster DeFi? +
Aster supports 500+ Ethereum tokens including ETH, USDC, USDT, WBTC, DAI, LINK, UNI, AAVE, CRV, LDO, MKR, SNX, RPL, MATIC, ARB, OP, stETH, rETH, cbETH, and thousands of ERC-20 tokens. Any token with an Aster pool can be traded immediately. New token listings are permissionless — anyone can create a pool.
How is Aster DeFi different from Uniswap, Curve, and 1inch? +
Uniswap provides AMM liquidity but no aggregation or staking. Curve specializes in stable swaps. 1inch aggregates but doesn't provide native liquidity or staking. Aster DeFi is unique in combining native CLMM pools, best-price aggregation across all major DEXs, ETH liquid staking, cross-chain bridging, and a real-yield governance token — all in one non-custodial Ethereum protocol.
Does Aster DeFi support Ethereum Layer 2 networks? +
Yes. Aster DeFi is deployed on Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, and zkSync Era in addition to Ethereum mainnet. L2 deployments offer identical functionality with gas fees 50–100× lower. The Aster bridge seamlessly moves assets between L1 and L2. Use L2 for daily trading and L1 for larger positions where Ethereum's security is paramount.
Does Aster DeFi support limit orders on Ethereum? +
Yes. Aster offers on-chain limit orders and TWAP (time-weighted average price) orders for all token pairs. Limit orders are gasless to place (you sign a message) and are executed by Aster's keeper network when the market reaches your target price. You pay gas only on execution. Orders can be cancelled instantly at no cost.
Can I use Aster DeFi on mobile? +
Yes. Aster DeFi is fully mobile-optimized and works in any browser. Use MetaMask Mobile, Coinbase Wallet, or Rainbow's in-app browser for the best mobile experience on Ethereum. A dedicated iOS and Android native app is planned for Q1 2025, with improved gas estimation and push notifications for limit orders and position alerts.
What slippage should I set when trading on Aster DeFi? +
For major pairs like ETH/USDC with deep liquidity, 0.1–0.3% slippage is sufficient. For mid-cap ERC-20 tokens, 0.5–1% is recommended. For low-liquidity or volatile tokens, set 1–3%. Aster's default is 0.5% which covers most trades. For stablecoin swaps (USDC/USDT/DAI), you can safely set 0.05% thanks to Aster's stable pool routing.
How does Aster DeFi handle Ethereum network congestion? +
Aster integrates with EIP-1559 dynamic fee estimation and shows real-time gas price recommendations. During high congestion, Aster offers "Fast," "Standard," and "Eco" gas modes. The gas tracker in the navigation bar shows current base fee in gwei. For non-urgent trades, use Aster on Arbitrum or Optimism where congestion is effectively zero.
What happens if I bridge and the destination transaction fails? +
Aster Bridge uses Axelar's secure cross-chain messaging which guarantees eventual delivery. If a destination transaction fails due to gas estimation issues, the Axelar relayer automatically retries. In the rare case of a bridge failure, funds are never lost — you can claim a refund on the source chain via the Bridge history page within 7 days.
Does Aster DeFi have a referral program? +
Yes. Aster's referral program pays 20% of all trading fees generated by referred users, in real-time, paid in ASTR tokens. There's no referral cap — top referrers earn thousands of dollars monthly. Generate your referral link from the Earn tab. Referral rewards are claimable at any time with no minimum threshold. Referral tracking is fully on-chain and transparent.
Is there a minimum trade size on Aster DeFi? +
There is no minimum trade size beyond covering Ethereum gas fees. For very small trades (under $20), gas costs may exceed trading fees — in this case, using Aster on Arbitrum or Optimism is recommended where the same trade costs under $0.10. For institutional trades above $500K, Aster's TWAP engine and RFQ (request for quote) system offer better execution than market orders.
Does Aster DeFi have a token launch planned? +
ASTR token distribution details will be announced via official channels — Twitter (@AsterDeFi) and Discord. ASTR is currently earnable through protocol participation. Be alert for scams and phishing — the only official domain is aster-defi.com. Never connect your wallet to unverified sites or enter your seed phrase anywhere. Follow verified official accounts only.
Where can I find Aster DeFi documentation and get support? +
Full documentation is at docs.aster-defi.com. Developer APIs, SDK, and smart contract ABIs are at dev.aster-defi.com. For support, join the Aster Discord or submit a ticket at support.aster-defi.com. Follow @AsterDeFi on Twitter for announcements. For on-chain governance and community discussion, use the Aster governance forum at gov.aster-defi.com.