Let me share something interesting with you today. This morning, I went to the bank to transfer 200,000 cash for a friend. I had even prepared an excuse, but the bank staff counted the money and processed the transfer without asking a single question. For the first time, I genuinely felt that my money was truly at my disposal. This sense of freedom immediately reminded me of what DeFi should really be like.

Speaking of which, I have to mention Astros on the Sui chain—this project has been moving fast lately. The points leaderboard is about to launch, and the vault will soon go live with a feature to stake points and earn yields. The best part is, you can earn points even if your trades are liquidated or you lose money, which means the team is essentially subsidizing your losses, so you don’t have to worry about losing out due to operational mistakes. Plus, the mystery box lottery event is still ongoing. If you don't put some USDT in now, you’ll really miss out on a round of rewards. Here’s the link:

Anyone who’s been in DeFi for a while probably feels the same: although it claims to be “open finance,” the actual user experience is even more fragmented than traditional finance. If you want to do a leveraged trade, you have to first deposit collateral on a lending protocol, then transfer to a DEX to open a position, and after closing the position, manually redeem your assets. You also have to keep an eye on the risk parameters of several platforms. Not only is your capital constantly being shuffled around, but the efficiency is terrible, and it’s easy to miss the best trading opportunities.

This reminds me of the prime brokers in traditional finance like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan. They became the core for institutional capital not because of a single trading function, but because they manage the entire capital lifecycle—idle funds can be converted to leverage, risk across multi-asset portfolios can be evaluated as a whole, and trading, financing, and settlement are seamlessly integrated. In short, every dollar is always generating returns and circulating efficiently—this is the real efficiency core of traditional finance.

DeFi, however, has never solved the problem of "fragmentation." Lending is just lending, trading is just trading, and risk is managed separately. Assets are locked in isolated protocols, which means they can’t be reused or managed as a whole for risk. Collateral deposited on platform A may not be valid on platform B for trading; leveraged positions on platform C can’t be netted against hedges on platform D. The result is either idle, wasted capital or duplicated risk exposure, and capital efficiency never improves.

It wasn’t until Astros appeared that the logic of traditional prime brokerage was truly brought on-chain. Astros doesn’t see itself as just another perpetual DEX, but targets the role of “on-chain prime broker,” which directly addresses DeFi’s core pain points. @astros_ag

Astros’ key capability is essentially reconstructing the core advantages of traditional prime brokers using blockchain technology for higher efficiency. First is the design of a cross-asset margin pool: all assets—stablecoins, yield-bearing tokens, staked SUI, LP positions—can be put into the same margin pool. This means that by depositing assets on Sui just once, you can trade perpetual contracts, use them as collateral for instant lending, and participate in hedging, without moving assets between different protocols. Capital utilization instantly increases.

Next is the embedded auto-lending mechanism, which fully replicates the “capital recycling” logic of traditional prime brokers. Previously in DeFi, leveraging required borrowing from a lending platform, transferring to a DEX for trading, and then manually repaying after closing the position—a complicated process prone to errors. On Astros, auto-lending starts as soon as you open a leveraged position, and repayment is completed automatically upon closing, with real-time adjustment of borrowing limits based on P&L. This deposit-lend-trade-repay-reborrow cycle keeps funds in constant, efficient motion instead of sitting idle in your account.

Even more important is unified risk management. The reason traditional prime brokers can let institutions safely use leverage is their ability to assess the risk of the entire asset portfolio. Astros brings this logic on-chain: all positions are managed with a single margin account, with unified risk exposure, liquidation process, and global risk view. Combined with the inherent security features of the Sui chain, this reduces liquidation cascades and supports higher, safer leverage—far more reliable than the “everyone for themselves” risk model common in DeFi.

Another critical point is that Astros’ growth logic is sustainable. Unlike some projects that rely on incentives to attract volume, Astros draws in professional traders and institutions through capital efficiency, bringing real trading volume and fees. Part of these earnings go back to the ecosystem, some to the insurance fund, which in turn allows for optimization of risk parameters and higher leverage, creating a compounding cycle: “efficiency improvement → trading volume growth → revenue feedback → risk reinforcement → further efficiency improvement.” This model aligns with the long-term approach of traditional prime brokers and is much more viable than DEXs that compete solely on trading fees.

Currently, the total value locked in the Sui ecosystem has surpassed billions of USD, and the perpetual trading volume is growing rapidly. What’s missing is efficient infrastructure to accommodate these funds. Astros fills this gap, using the prime brokerage logic to convert Sui’s speed and scalability into real financial efficiency, allowing on-chain capital to circulate efficiently and compound just like in traditional finance.

Ultimately, DeFi’s goal isn’t to overthrow traditional finance, but to reconstruct financial services in a more open and efficient way. Astros proves that innovating by combining time-tested, efficient models from traditional finance with blockchain’s technological advantages is far more valuable than inventing concepts out of thin air. As more institutions and professional traders enter the space, this “on-chain prime broker” model is likely to become mainstream. With its first-mover advantage and technical architecture in the Sui ecosystem, Astros has already secured a core position in this race.
#DeFi #Perp #SUI #Astros