Traders and bots now route most activity through three Perp DEXs—Aster, Hyperliquid, and DeriW—driven by expectations of future token drops and points. This shift is moving liquidity, leverage ratios, and order flow, and traders, product builders, and compliance staff must track the new paths and the risks that ride with them.
Data singles out these three venues as the main absorbers of airdrop farming, with distinct mechanics and incentives shaping how capital rotates and how strategies evolve across the stack.
High-Stakes airdrops and the race for liquidity for Aster, Hyperliquid and DeriW
Aster has quickly become one of the most talked-about names among airdrop farmers. Community speculation suggests rewards could exceed USD 25,000 per wallet, fueled by its planned Stage Two Genesis Airdrop. Backed by YZi Labs, the project places its USDF token at the center of a multi-EVM hub, positioning itself as both a technical experiment and a high-reward opportunity for aggressive participants.
Hyperliquid, by contrast, has already executed a major drop—sending 31% of its total HYPE supply to 94,000 wallets. Beyond the airdrop, it now operates its own Layer-1 chain, HyperEVM, offering leverage of up to 50×. This mix attracts both speculative traders and delta-neutral players who exploit arbitrage and funding-rate imbalances without taking heavy price exposure.
DeriW takes a different angle, promoting zero gas trades and throughput claims of 80,000 transactions per second. As reported by Bitpinas, its decentralized exchange allows borderless, KYC-free trading while rewarding active users through an airdrop campaign. The model highlights speed and accessibility as competitive advantages, while sidestepping identity checks that might deter institutional participation.
Despite their differences, the playbook looks similar across platforms. Farmers often use high leverage to reach eligibility thresholds and rely on delta-neutral strategies that hedge price risk while still generating points. To reduce costs, they route trades through aggregators like Jupiter, 1inch, Li.Fi, NAVI, and Rango, minimizing slippage and amplifying efficiency.
Reward-driven programs can temporarily boost volume and order book depth, but liquidity often proves fleeting once campaigns end. Heavy leverage raises systemic risk through forced liquidations and sudden volatility, while large-scale token distributions shift governance dynamics, altering who controls voting power and future incentive structures.
Finally, regulatory blind spots remain. Platforms like DeriW that bypass KYC obscure the identity layer, complicating traceability for regulators and institutions. As adoption grows, these gaps may become friction points for integration. For now, the cycle of rewards, leverage, and tactical farming continues to define the pace of innovation—and risk—in this high-stakes corner of crypto.
The next scheduled marker is Aster’s Stage Two Genesis Airdrop. Until then, Hyperliquid keeps its points program open and DeriW prolongs its no-KYC drive, keeping farm capital locked. Product and compliance desks should monitor token split schedules, open leverage sizes, and KYC flags to judge how far liquidity—and risk—will swing.
In practice, the path of liquidity will track airdrop timelines and leverage incentives; teams that adapt routing, risk controls, and compliance checks in step with these markers will be better positioned as flows rotate.
