According to data published by CryptoRank, Aster (ASTER) leads every perpetual decentralized exchange token launched in the past year by holder count, with approximately 256,000 wallets. The ranking covers tokens whose generation events fell inside the past 12 months, with the spread running from Aster at the top down to Paradex, which counted only 582 holders. RollX (ROLL), a Base-network perpetuals platform, ranked second with 50,300 holders, while GRVT followed at 30,900 and edgeX at 16,100. Lighter (LIT) placed fifth with 7,300 holders, Backpack (BP) counted 5,100, and Paradex (DIME) trailed the group at 582. As per CryptoRank, Aster's holder base is roughly 5 times larger than its nearest rival RollX, demonstrating the token's dominant position in the perp DEX market.
Despite its strong holder base, ASTER traded near $0.719 on Friday, down 0.20% over 24 hours, leaving the ASTER price about 70% below its $2.41 record from September 2025. Every token in the cohort is trading below its all-time high, with Paradex's DIME falling 19% to roughly $0.0101, around 86% below its March peak. GRVT traded at $0.160, some 65% below its July high. However, several names rallied on Friday, with edgeX jumping 36% to $0.629 after edgeX became the flagship perpetuals platform on Arc, Circle's own blockchain, Lighter rising 12% to $4.34, and Backpack's BP adding 6% to $0.452. The price data suggests that while holder growth and protocol updates have been significant, they have not yet translated into durable token price appreciation or broader DeFi adoption.
According to the data, Lighter has a $1.08 billion market capitalization, second only to Aster's $1.94 billion, despite its narrow base of holders. It signed a Circle revenue-sharing deal in February that drew institutional attention. The sector has reshuffled repeatedly this year, with perp DEX volume leadership changing hands more than once, and Aster now has the widest distribution, though prices across the group have yet to follow suit. The market capitalization disparity between Lighter's 7,300 holders and Aster's 256,000 holders demonstrates how institutional partnerships and revenue-sharing agreements can significantly impact token valuations despite smaller user bases.
