Dialogue with Aster CEO: CZ's Role, Differences with Hyperliquid, Future Roadmap

In this episode of Wu's podcast, Aster's CEO Leonard shared his career journey from traditional finance to the field of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and discussed Aster's role in the evolving crypto ecosystem. He shared Aster's unique product features and ways for community participation, and also talked about the development of privacy-protecting blockchain infrastructure, Aster's future plans, and his views on the overall market trends impacting Web3 and the crypto assets industry.

The audio transcription is completed by GPT and may contain errors. Please listen to the full podcast on platforms like Xiaoyuzhou, YT, etc. The guests' opinions do not represent Wu's views. Readers are requested to strictly comply with the laws and regulations of their location.

Little Universe:

YouTube:

Introduction: Leonard's Entrepreneurial Journey

Maodi: Leonard, can you briefly introduce your background? How did you transition from TradFi to the crypto space?

Leonard: Thank you for the invitation. I am Leonard, and I previously worked in the TradFi sector, initially responsible for high-frequency trading infrastructure development at an investment bank. After about three years, I transitioned to software development, focusing on building risk engines for global stock markets. I spent five to six years in traditional markets before starting my entrepreneurial journey.

I founded a P2P lending platform in China. Although it ultimately did not succeed, it allowed me to deeply experience the challenges and opportunities of entrepreneurship. It was during this process that I began to come into contact with and learn about Blockchain technology.

I initially entered the crypto space through investment, participating in the ICO boom in 2018. The first ICO made me 20 times my investment, but then I lost most of my funds in several other projects. This experience sparked my interest in blockchain technology, and I began to learn how to develop applications on Ethereum.

Later, I attempted to establish a DeFi project, but it also did not last long. At that time, I joined Binance as a project manager, participating in the development of new products. Through this experience, I learned how to quickly adapt to market demands, build a team, and achieve product-market fit.

My turning point was using Uniswap and dYdX, which made me deeply aware of the potential of Decentralized Finance. Ultimately, this also led to the birth of Aster, which was initially another project and gradually evolved into today's Aster. This is my story, from initial exploration to today's achievements.

Collaboration with CZ and how to establish trust

Maodi: Many people are curious about your relationship with CZ, BNB Chain, and YZi Labs. Could you elaborate on how you first got in touch with CZ and earned his trust? What does your collaboration look like today, and in which areas are you currently cooperating?

Leonard: The first time I encountered CZ was when I was still working at Binance. Back then, Binance was not as large as it is now; compared to the current Binance, it was still a relatively small company.

Of course, he is no longer working at Binance now. But at that time he was the CEO, and I needed to collaborate directly with him on many projects. I found him to be a very rational person, and he was very hands-on in many product and project decisions. I never found it difficult to work with him because he is very rational and focused on results. You just need to complete the tasks and show the results, and everything else will happen naturally.

Clearly, he is very intense, but as long as you can clearly explain your reasoning for decisions, it is not difficult to reach an agreement with him. If necessary, even if there are disagreements, progress can still be made. He places great importance on execution, rapid iteration, and emphasizes the completion of tasks.

At that time, I worked with him at Binance, but we eventually went our separate ways. I turned to focus on Aster, and he also embarked on his own new journey.

However, after YZi Labs became an investor in our project, we did not raise any more funds from external investors. So, as the main shareholder of the YZi Labs fund, he became a major shareholder in our project. We hold regular meetings with him, not just to report how we are doing, but also to discuss our plans. YZi Labs has a complete project portfolio, and we are closely integrated with the BNB ecosystem. They can provide us with valuable ideas and resources to help us integrate better, as well as advice on trends and strategies - what we should do, and even what we should stop doing.

On a personal level, he is my mentor. I often contact him via text messages, and we discuss both personal and professional matters. I feel that the area where he has helped me the most is in how to deal with the large amount of attention brought by a successful token issuance. There are very few people on Earth who have that kind of experience, especially in the case of a rapidly growing project like Aster, particularly in terms of the experience with token prices and the rise of BNB. His advice on how to handle this attention, how to turn it into something beneficial for the project and its holders, and how to prepare for the potential risks brought by the volatility of token prices is extremely valuable. Our interactions are like this, and I believe he is a very important advisor for both me and our project.

Aster's competitive advantages: Differentiation from HyperLiquid

Maodi: How do you plan to compete with HyperLiquid? What are Aster's advantages or unique features?

Leonard: We are often asked about comparisons with HyperLiquid; they are the market leader, and I respect them a lot. However, as a Perp DEX, we are still in the early stages, relatively small, primarily attracting users from centralized exchanges. The market is growing and will eventually accommodate multiple exchanges focused on different areas.

Competing directly with HyperLiquid is not our goal. We focus on integration with other ecosystems, supporting native multichain rather than relying on bridging. We are more actively collaborating with other ecological projects, which sets us apart from them.

Our original intention was to rebuild the trading experience of centralized exchanges, but we have expanded our product range to include stablecoin support and spot markets. The current focus is on enhancing user experience, rather than just building a simple ecosystem. We are focused on attracting new users.

In addition, we invest heavily in community services, providing traditional customer service and engaging deeply with the community to answer questions. Many decentralized projects overlook this aspect, but we interact with users in different ways, addressing issues and providing solutions. This is a labor-intensive process and is also a major reason for our team's efforts.

We believe that providing a user experience similar to centralized exchanges is crucial, especially in customer service, where decentralized exchanges are generally weaker. We are expanding our team to address the rapidly growing user base following token generation events.

Another key point is privacy protection. We are developing our own Blockchain and providing privacy options that allow users to shield their transaction information, which is different from the public transaction methods of most competitors. The demand for privacy is increasing, and we hope to attract more TradFi traders.

There is currently a lack of such solutions in the market, which is also our direction for development. We will invest a large amount of resources and hope to launch fundamentally different solutions by early next year to promote the wide adoption of the products.

Aster's token airdrop plan: Enhance community participation and token utility

Maodi: The Aster airdrop program is currently in its fourth phase. Do you have any highlights or special updates you would like to share with our readers?

Leonard: Yes, we are now in the fourth phase, and we have learned a lot from the first to the third phase. In fact, we have been continuously improving how we allocate points from zero phase to the third phase to ensure fairness. Although the rules remain basically stable, the most exciting update is that, given we have completed the Token Generation Event (TGE), we now want to add more utility to the Aster token.

At this stage, we have specially introduced additional points rewards for Aster token holders. Our goal is to encourage the community to actively participate in the ecosystem, promote the growth of Aster, and support the holders of Aster tokens. I believe this is the biggest change in the fourth phase — it truly focuses on increasing the utility of token holders and incentivizing deeper community engagement.

Aster's roadmap: infrastructure, token utility, and privacy solutions

Maodi: Can you briefly share Aster's roadmap?

Leonard: Our roadmap revolves around three core pillars. First is infrastructure, which we position as the infrastructure layer for decentralized trading. We are adding more assets, including gold, stocks, and other real-world assets, and plan to address liquidity issues. We are also focusing on early-stage assets and partnering with early platforms to provide liquidity, which is a competitive advantage of perpetual exchanges over centralized exchanges.

Our focus is on AMM (Automated Market Maker) infrastructure, supporting multi-chain interoperability. To this end, we launched the Rocket Launch project to help early-stage projects gain liquidity and exposure. We will continue to optimize this project to ensure the listing of high-quality trading assets.

In terms of privacy, we are building a privacy-protecting Blockchain, implementing hidden order functionality and developing new technologies. We plan to launch the solution in the first quarter of 2026 and complete internal testing and showcase the testnet by the end of the year.

Regarding tokens, we are committed to increasing their utility and have added usage scenarios such as VIP discounts. With the launch of Layer 1 Blockchains, staking will become a new important usage scenario, allowing token holders to earn rewards and participate in governance.

We are also collaborating with other participants in the ecosystem to enhance the “Trade and Earn” feature, improve capital efficiency, and attract more institutional users. We are also strengthening the broker program and simplifying the process for developers to collaborate with us.

Additionally, we are exploring AI technology to simplify the user experience of perpetual trading. Together with the community and partners, we are leveraging our infrastructure to build AI-driven solutions and encouraging developers to innovate through Aster.

In the future, we will focus on developing ecosystem partnerships to promote the large-scale application and innovation of products.

Maodi: What new products or features have you launched recently? What are the three most important tasks for the next quarter? How do you measure success?

Leonard: We launched Rocket Launch, which is part of our spot market, aimed at providing liquidity for early projects to help them succeed, and users can also receive airdrops by participating. APRO is the first project launched through this initiative, achieving great success with over 2 billion in trading volume.

The three most important tasks for the next quarter are: First, improve the trading experience, which is the core of our product, respond to customer feedback, and enhance trading functionalities. Second, increase the listing of more Real World Assets (RWA) to meet user demand and provide truly valuable trading assets. Finally, we focus on optimizing token economics to ensure that the project creates value for users and establishes a sustainable cycle.

The “North Star” metric we use to measure success is the number of active users and transaction volume. Only when users continue to use and pay fees can we prove that we have achieved product-market fit and created real value.

DeFi users' concerns and Aster's trust-building strategy

Maodi: What are DeFi users most concerned about right now? What unique practices does Aster have in community building and user education?

Leonard: I believe that trust is the most important factor for DeFi users, and security and consistency are crucial. There are too many scams and frauds in the crypto space, and even large projects are not immune to issues, such as the volatility of high TVL stablecoins. Past cases, like FTX, have made it difficult for users to trust any protocol.

The core concerns of DeFi users are twofold: first, the prevalence of active scams, and second, whether the team can truly prioritize the interests of users and holders. Even a good team can fail without proper risk management. The market is highly cyclical, and teams may abandon projects during downturns, which exacerbates user anxiety.

At Aster, we build trust through long-term efforts, rather than relying on a single function. Trust involves whether the team is willing to consistently focus on user interests, which cannot be resolved by smart contracts. We have proven that even through transformations, we always prioritize user interests.

In addition to trust, user experience is also an important factor. Historically, DeFi has had a poor experience, especially compared to centralized exchanges. However, now the experience of perpetual trading DEX has approached or even surpassed that of centralized exchanges. Although issues such as wallet connection and Gas fees still exist, we are working to reduce these frictions to help users transition more smoothly to decentralized platforms.

As trust in decentralized protocols builds, users will begin to focus on governance and interest alignment, ultimately realizing they have the power to influence the operation of the protocol. This is one of the attractions of decentralized projects.

Aster adopts a grassroots community building approach, with the official team deeply engaging in various communities, directly interacting with users, especially on platforms like Twitter and Discord. We hope users feel like they are communicating with real people rather than just interacting with a decentralized code system. We have a high level of activity in the Asian market while also expanding our presence in the English market, recruiting more team members to enhance community interaction and personal care.

Market Outlook: Optimistically View the Key Factors of Corrections and Survival

Maodi: The recent market situation is not very ideal. The pullback of Bitcoin and many altcoins is quite large. What is your view on the future market?

Leonard: Oh, that's a tricky question. First of all, this is not investment advice, but like most entrepreneurs, I remain optimistic. Personally, I don't feel that the market has dropped significantly. In my view, BTC is still above $100,000 (this interview was recorded on November 11), right? However, I understand that many people have only recently entered the market, and for them, a 10%-20% pullback may feel quite severe. However, if history repeats itself, a 20% pullback is nothing for Bitcoin. I don't see how central banks can stop injecting liquidity into the market. As long as this liquidity continues, it will become the new “hard currency,” which also increases the likelihood of Bitcoin setting new historical highs.

As for altcoins, it is really difficult to predict which ones will succeed because most market expectations have already been priced in. However, in my personal opinion, projects or altcoins that have a clear positive cash flow path are more likely to survive. I believe survival is the most important factor; it is the most certain factor leading to successful investments. Projects that can survive a cycle are more likely to reach a new historical high in the next cycle, or even set a new record high.

It is difficult to predict whether this cycle has ended. If it hasn't ended yet, we may see altcoins set new historical highs this season. However, from another perspective, we should pay attention to projects that can survive at least one cycle. If they can achieve this, they are likely to return and perform well in the next cycle. In every cycle, we see that projects with positive cash flow can set higher historical highs.

Therefore, there are several areas, such as stablecoins, that clearly have a very distinct positive cash flow path. I personally believe that projects of this kind are more likely to survive and achieve long-term success.