Aster, an on-chain trading platform, is celebrating over 200k on-chain holders of its native token. This follows the launch of Shield Mode, a protected trading feature that allows users to execute high-leverage perpetual trades without broadcasting their positions to the market.
200,000+ $ASTER onchain holders ????
A new milestone. A growing community that shows up.
— Aster (@Aster_DEX) January 5, 2026
The decentralized perpetual exchange took the news to X, citing 200,642 on-chain holders as of today. This translates to a 0.24% daily gain, with a total of 24.9 million transfers. The platforms multichain perpetual futures trading, featuring up to 1001x leverage and MEV-free execution, drove this growth.
Aster expands Shield Mode to gold and silver pairs
Aster DEX has additionally announced the expansion of Shield Mode to XAUUSDT (gold) and XAGUSDT (silver) perpetual futures. This will enable up to 100x leverage for on-chain trading of these commodities.
Shield Mode expanded ????
XAUUSDT (gold) • XAGUSDT (silver) now live, with up to 100x leverage.
✨ one tap LONG/SHORT, instant execution
✨ Orders stay off public books
✨ PnL Sharing Fee Structure
???? Trading hours:
– 5 days × 24h
– Markets closed on Saturdays and Sundays…
— Aster (@Aster_DEX) January 5, 2026
Aster stated that with the new pairs, Shield Mode will continue to emphasize privacy with orders executed off public books, one-tap long/short positions, instant fills, and a PnL-sharing fee model. Trading is live and will operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in UTC.
The platform introduced the Shield Mode mid-last month, with leverage of up to 1,001 times on Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) pairs. As reported by Cryptopolitan, the mode enabled instant execution and zero slippage while keeping orders off public order books.
“Shield Mode reflects our belief that the future of on-chain trading isn‘t just about leverage or speed—it’s also about control, discretion, and protection,” said Leonard, CEO of Aster. “Were building a trading platform that allows traders to perform at the highest level without being forced to broadcast their strategies to the market.”
This update attracts interest in private high-leverage trades but highlights risks, as seen in previous whale losses exceeding $35 million on the platform. The founder of Liquid Capital, Yi Lihua, also said in a tweet that he has chosen to give up on the Aster decentralized exchange project.
The tweet that has since been deleted revealed that he couldn‘t get in touch with Aster’s founder. This made him nervous, so he pulled out of the investment.
Source: via X
Still, Aster is leading in the overall trading volume with approximately $38.8 billion in the last 24 hours. Hyperliquid follows closely with a trading volume of approximately $34.8 billion. However, the open interest of the Hyperliquid platform is way higher, currently sitting at $81.7 billion, as Asters sits at $26 billion.
Aster climbs 10% but technical indicators show bearish pressure
Besides the perpetual volumes, Aster has remained active through strategic initiatives. The platform announced its fifth token buyback programme in December. Asters repurchases and burns finance daily fees of up to 80%.
Aster also published the first half of the 2026 roadmap. Plans include the launch of the Layer One AsterChain mainnet. Plans for staking and on-chain governance for ASTER have been put in place. Fiat on- and off-ramps are also being considered.
As a result, Aster began the year with a double-digit surge. The token is up 11.44% in the last week. Yesterday, Aster broke past the $0.78 resistance level, signaling bullish momentum. According to analysts, this triggered a rally toward $0.91–$1.39.
However, technical indicators show waning bearish pressure, which will come as a result of failure to hold the $0.78 level, risking a retracement to $0.70–$0.75. Meanwhile, the token is steady with a small surge of 0.07% in the last 24 hours, and the coin is trading at 0.77.