Are Aster referral rebates added on top of trading fees?

No, Aster referral rebates are distributed from eligible trading-fee activity rather than added as a second charge to the referee. The default referral relationship lasts 365 days, and reward rates are recalculated daily at 00:00 UTC, then updated at 09:00 UTC. Liquidation fees, self-trades, and zero-fee volume are excluded. Rewards are paid in the same asset used for the eligible trading fee.

Does closing an Aster perpetual position incur another fee?

Yes, closing an Aster perpetual position creates a separate execution and therefore a separate trading-fee calculation. The close fee uses the position quantity closed, its actual execution price, and the maker or taker rate assigned to that fill. A partial close charges only the filled closing notional. Funding accrued before closure remains a distinct account transfer, while realized profit or loss changes the balance independently.

Can an unfilled Aster limit order generate a trading fee?

No, an unfilled Aster limit order has no filled notional on which to calculate an execution fee. A partial fill creates a fee only for the executed quantity, and the remaining quantity carries none until it trades. Maker treatment requires the fill to add liquidity; a marketable limit order that executes immediately receives taker treatment. Post Only rejects an order that would cross the book.

Does higher leverage reduce the Aster trading fee?

No, higher leverage does not reduce the notional value used for an Aster trading-fee calculation. Leverage reduces the initial margin required relative to position size, while the fee still multiplies contracts by execution price and the applicable maker or taker rate. Two positions with identical filled notional and execution role therefore produce the same trading fee before discounts, even when their margin requirements differ.

Where does an Aster liquidation fee appear in account history?

An Aster liquidation charge appears under the "Insurance clear" label in transaction history when the protocol deducts the applicable insurance fee. The amount is calculated from the notional value liquidated and the liquidation fee rate assigned under the trading rules. A portion is allocated to the insurance fund. Liquidation fees are separate from routine maker-taker fees and are excluded from referral commissions.

Aster

Aster fees are Maker-Taker Costs That Enable Total Cost Comparison

Last updated 2026-08-09

Aster fees are trading charges calculated from filled order notional, maker-taker status, contract type, and any qualifying VIP or ASTER payment reduction. Spot and USDT perpetual taker executions use a 0.04% published base rate, while posted liquidity and USD1 contracts follow different schedules. Perpetual traders must also include funding, because it moves between long and short accounts and can exceed the execution charge during a long holding period.

What's inside

In short: A two-leg taker trade pays an execution charge on both entry and exit notional.

Funding Can Exceed the Execution Fee

Funding is the largest fee-model blind spot because Aster perpetual funding repeats while a position remains open. The Pro Mode formula uses an 8-hour default interval, and the collection window includes a 15-second timing deviation. Its interest component is 0.01%, except BNBUSDT uses 0%, while the clamp spans -0.05% to 0.05%. Funding passes directly between long and short holders; Aster neither charges nor receives it. A position held across several intervals therefore needs funding added separately from entry and exit fees.

Which Fee Rate Applies Before You Place an Order?

The applicable Aster fee rate is set by market type, execution role, VIP status, and the asset used for payment. Spot starts at 0.005% maker and 0.04% taker. USDT perpetuals start at 0% maker and 0.04% taker, while USD1 perpetuals use 0% maker and 0.005% taker.

Aster reviews VIP eligibility at 23:59 UTC using both rolling 14-day trading volume and an ASTER holding requirement. The holding calculation combines daily averages from the Spot account, Perpetual account, and Aster Staking balance. Spot and perpetual balances use 24 hourly snapshots, with one snapshot taken at a random time inside each hour. Each accounting day runs from 00:00:00 through 23:59:59 UTC. Pending orders remain part of the ASTER balance calculation, so reserving tokens in an order does not remove them from that day’s measurement. Both qualifying conditions must be met for a reduced VIP rate.

Before submitting an order, check the product label, settlement asset, order behavior, displayed fee tier, and ASTER fee-payment setting. Leverage changes required margin, not fee notional; the calculation still uses contracts multiplied by execution price. A marketable limit order becomes a taker when it matches existing liquidity immediately, whereas a Post Only instruction protects maker status by rejecting an order that would cross the book.

Maker and Taker Arithmetic on Notional Value

For a first attempt, Aster calculates each execution fee by multiplying filled notional value by the rate assigned to that fill.

Background for this sits in Using Aster. The published spot schedule sets the maker fee at 0.005% and the taker fee at 0.04%, equal to 0.5 and 4 basis points. One basis point equals 0.01%, so the same notation also makes venue comparisons easier. Perpetual contracts use contracts multiplied by transaction price to obtain notional. The margin posted is not the multiplier in that equation. BTCUSDT, for example, treats 0.1 BTC filled at a given transaction price as 0.1 contract unit times that price, before applying the relevant fee rate. Each partial fill is evaluated at its own execution price.

A hypothetical USDT perpetual round trip opens 25,000 USDT of notional with a taker order and later closes 26,000 USDT as another taker order. Entry costs 25,000 × 0.04%, or 10 USDT. Exit costs 26,000 × 0.04%, or 10.40 USDT. The two execution charges total 20.40 USDT. If the position used 5x leverage, leverage would change the margin committed, not either fee. Funding, price impact, and network transactions remain outside this calculation, preserving a clean comparison of maker-taker charges. This is the total charge for the stated two-fill case.

Mixed execution needs fill-level arithmetic. Suppose a limit order fills one part while resting, then a revised portion crosses the spread. The resting fill receives the maker rate, and the crossing fill receives the taker rate; multiplying the entire parent order by one rate would be inaccurate. Partial fills at different prices also carry different notionals. Add the fee from every fill, then repeat the process for the closing order. A Good-Til-Canceled limit instruction describes duration, not maker status, while Post Only directly prevents an immediate taker fill. Immediate-Or-Cancel behavior instead prioritizes available execution.

Trading fees, funding, and chain costs reach different recipients. Aster collects the execution charge shown in trade history. Long and short accounts exchange funding with each other. Wallet transactions on Ethereum, BNB Chain, Solana, or Arbitrum incur protocol-level fees under each network’s rules, including validator payment and, on some chains, fee burning. These network charges remain separate from Aster. A transfer on Ethereum is one such separate cost.

How Does Paying With ASTER Change the Charge?

Paying with ASTER reduces an eligible spot or perpetual trading charge by 5% when the required balance and product setting are present. That discount multiplies the normal charge by 0.95: a 0.04% rate becomes 0.038%, and a 0.005% rate becomes 0.00475%. Spot requires ASTER in the spot wallet with fee payment enabled; perpetuals use ASTER held in the perpetual wallet automatically. The reduction applies to trading fees, not funding transfers, network gas, or liquidation charges.

Four Execution Paths for Quote Comparison

A useful comparison of Aster fees holds notional and trade direction constant, then separates execution, spread, funding, and network cost.

Start with the fee on the expected filled notional, then price the return leg under the same assumptions. Add funding over the planned holding window and the network transaction needed to position collateral. Hyperliquid and dYdX also expose order-book execution costs, while GMX uses a pool-based design, so identical trade sizes do not produce an identical cost stack. Compare the executable bid or ask rather than the mid-price, and keep collateral denomination consistent. For Aster, USDT and USD1 perpetuals need separate rows because their published taker rates differ by 3.5 basis points before any ASTER reduction.

Execution Path	Prerequisite Already in Place
Spot maker	A limit order that rests on the Aster spot order book
Spot taker	An order permitted to match existing spot liquidity immediately
USDT perpetual maker	A listed USDT perpetual market and an order that rests
USD1 perpetual taker	A listed USD1 perpetual market and an immediately executable order

The table isolates workflow prerequisites; it does not replace arithmetic. Record the actual fill role for every leg, because a limit label alone does not guarantee maker treatment. Then add funding received as a negative cost and funding paid as a positive cost. A clean comparison ends with one number per venue, expressed in the same settlement asset and over the same holding window, such as the 0.005% USD1-perpetual taker rate before the ASTER reduction.

Who Benefits Most From Maker Execution?

Maker execution benefits traders who can wait for fills, manage repricing, and avoid crossing the spread when timing permits. The strongest published difference appears in USDT perpetuals: maker execution is 0%, while taker execution is 0.04%. Every 100,000 USDT of filled notional therefore corresponds to 40 USDT at the taker rate before any ASTER discount.

High-turnover strategies feel that difference on every entry and exit, yet queue position and missed execution still carry economic weight. A market that moves away from a resting order leaves no position to benefit from the lower rate. Traders who require immediate exposure have a clearer comparison: use the taker rate, executable spread, expected funding intervals, and any chain transaction together. Traders willing to provide liquidity should use Post Only and monitor partial fills. The decision turns on whether waiting costs less than crossing, with the direct fee benchmark anchored at Aster’s 0% published maker rate on USDT perpetuals.

Key questions about Aster fees

Are Aster referral rebates added on top of trading fees?: No, Aster referral rebates are distributed from eligible trading-fee activity rather than added as a second charge to the referee. The default referral relationship lasts 365 days, and reward rates are recalculated daily at 00:00 UTC, then updated at 09:00 UTC. Liquidation fees, self-trades, and zero-fee volume are excluded. Rewards are paid in the same asset used for the eligible trading fee.
Does closing an Aster perpetual position incur another fee?: Yes, closing an Aster perpetual position creates a separate execution and therefore a separate trading-fee calculation. The close fee uses the position quantity closed, its actual execution price, and the maker or taker rate assigned to that fill. A partial close charges only the filled closing notional. Funding accrued before closure remains a distinct account transfer, while realized profit or loss changes the balance independently.
Can an unfilled Aster limit order generate a trading fee?: No, an unfilled Aster limit order has no filled notional on which to calculate an execution fee. A partial fill creates a fee only for the executed quantity, and the remaining quantity carries none until it trades. Maker treatment requires the fill to add liquidity; a marketable limit order that executes immediately receives taker treatment. Post Only rejects an order that would cross the book.
Does higher leverage reduce the Aster trading fee?: No, higher leverage does not reduce the notional value used for an Aster trading-fee calculation. Leverage reduces the initial margin required relative to position size, while the fee still multiplies contracts by execution price and the applicable maker or taker rate. Two positions with identical filled notional and execution role therefore produce the same trading fee before discounts, even when their margin requirements differ.
Where does an Aster liquidation fee appear in account history?: An Aster liquidation charge appears under the "Insurance clear" label in transaction history when the protocol deducts the applicable insurance fee. The amount is calculated from the notional value liquidated and the liquidation fee rate assigned under the trading rules. A portion is allocated to the insurance fund. Liquidation fees are separate from routine maker-taker fees and are excluded from referral commissions.