Aster launches privacy-focused Layer‑1 for perpetual trading; ASTER token jumps

Aster has launched the Aster Chain mainnet, a privacy-first Layer‑1 designed for decentralized perpetual futures and high-throughput on‑chain trading. Backed by YZi Labs (the family office of Binance founder CZ), the chain uses zero-knowledge encrypted execution and one-time stealth addresses to decouple orders from wallet identities, aiming to stop front‑running, position‑hunting and MEV. Transactions settle on‑chain but are hidden by default; users can grant selective disclosure via Viewer Passes. Aster claims >100,000 TPS, ~50 ms median block time and gasless trading, and supports cross‑chain deposits from Ethereum, Arbitrum, Solana and BNB Chain plus a native bridge to BNB. The network provides proprietary oracles, developer tooling (Aster Code), a trading UI, and plans for staking and early liquidity incentives. According to reporting, decentralized perpetual DEXes reached about $14 trillion cumulative volume by March 2026 (DefiLlama); Aster processes an estimated $3.2–3.3 billion/day vs. leader Hyperliquid at ~$8.4B/day. Following the mainnet announcement ASTER briefly rose ~8% before retracing to around $0.77. A phased rollout begins with “Chain Genesis,” then partnerships, public staking and ecosystem expansion. For traders: the launch may shift order flow toward privacy‑preserving onchain venues and reduce exploitable onchain signals, potentially altering liquidity patterns in perpetuals markets and affecting short‑term ASTER volatility around rollout milestones.