Ben Simpson discusses two new perpetual-derivatives exchanges—Hyper Liquid (Hype) and Asta—comparing user activity and sustainability. He favors Hyper Liquid because it shows real trader activity and revenue generation; Asta has strong early hype (backed by CZ) but may be driven more by airdrop farming and short-term excitement. The video advises watching for real user adoption and copycat entrants before deciding long-term winners.
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Hyper Liquid or Asta? There's been a big question I've been getting recently around the new perps derivatives exchanges. Hype is a big winner for me. Right. I've got Hype, my portfolio and recently one of our analysts shared that he's also getting into Aster. I think you need to look at is these protocols are derivative exchanges and they generate a lot of revenue. What we need to look at and the reason why I like hyperliquid is it's actually got real traders using it. Now CZ launched Asta, it's got a lot of hype early, but it seems to be a little bit more driven by airdrop farming rather than actual users. It's going to be seen how that sort of plays out, but there's going to be more copycat players come out. Right? This is what happens in crypto. There's a good idea and there's a bunch of copycats. Right? You need to make sure you're following and seeing that the narrative doesn't change and the winners don't get left behind. Right. For me right now, Hyper Liquidity is still a clear winner. Asta, we're looking at one of, as I said, we have added in that portfolio for some of our team members. But for me we've got to see does it play out past the short term excitement, especially because, you know, CZ is a, you know, a big part of it. Does it play out, does it get real users? Then you make the call. But for me, hyperlig was still a winner.
