Aster Launches USD1 Perpetuals With 87.5% Fee Reduction
On March 18, 2026, derivatives platform Aster integrated the Trump family-linked USD1 stablecoin, launching perpetual contract markets for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. To attract volume, Aster slashed taker fees for USD1 pairs to just 0.5 basis points, an 87.5% reduction from the standard 4 bps on its USDT contracts, while eliminating maker fees entirely. The stablecoin can now be used as primary margin collateral, achieving functional parity with market leader USDT on the platform.
The move was amplified by Donald Trump Jr., who highlighted Aster's market position as the #2 perpetuals platform with $1.3 billion in daily volume and a $1.5 billion total value locked (TVL). This integration provides the USD1 stablecoin, which launched in 2025, direct access to a high-volume trading environment and Aster's user base of over 2 million traders.
WLFI Offers 2.5M Monthly Tokens to Drive Adoption
To ensure deep liquidity, the partnership includes a substantial incentive program. World Liberty Financial (WLFI) will distribute up to 2.5 million WLFI tokens monthly to users based on their trading volume in USD1 perpetual markets. This reward mechanism is designed to bootstrap a competitive trading environment for the stablecoin, which has previously struggled to gain traction against established competitors. By embedding USD1 into the core of the derivatives market, WLFI and Aster are creating a powerful use case beyond simple payments, targeting high-frequency traders and institutional players who are sensitive to trading costs and collateral efficiency.
Launch Occurs as ASTER Token Corrects to $0.71
The strategic partnership unfolds just after the March 17 launch of Aster Chain, the platform's new privacy-focused Layer 1 blockchain. The launch created a short-term "sell the news" event for the platform's native ASTER token, which is currently trading at $0.71 after being rejected from the $0.81 resistance level. While the token's price action reflects immediate speculative profit-taking, the integration of USD1 is a fundamental step in building the foundational liquidity and utility for the new blockchain. The success of the Aster Chain depends on attracting sustained ecosystem activity, and this high-profile partnership is a key part of that strategy.
