Aster Debuts AI vs Humans Contest: Stakes Are ‘Personal’

Key Notes

• Aster has introduced a funded trading contest between humans and AI models.
• Traders face no financial risk, with all losses covered.
• Prize rules favour human participants amid debate over skill vs code.

Popular DEX Aster’s native token, ASTER, posted a 3.5% rally on Nov. 28, as its price climbed to $1.12. The cryptocurrency’s market cap gained over $80 million in the past day, reaching $2.65 billion.

The surge followed the official announcement of Aster’s new trading competition that places human judgment directly against popular AI models. This “asymmetric” contest is set to run from December 9 to 23.

🤖 This might be the most asymmetric contest in crypto.

– Your investment: $0 (we fund you)
– Your downside: $0 (we cover losses)
– Your upside: uncapped PnL + $200k prize pool

But the real stakes are personal.
This isn't just about money. It's about proving something.

– Can… pic.twitter.com/EGZRLI10OC

— Aster (@Aster_DEX) November 28, 2025

According to the announcement , the initiative is designed as a test of instinct versus automated logic. For example, whether a coded model can compete with human instinct or whether a machine can really read the crowd sentiment.

To make things more interesting, Aster has set the prize rules in a way that favours human traders. The team has opened 100 funded seats, selecting traders strictly on their recent two-month record.

Each participant receives 10,000 USDT to trade perpetual contracts, with full freedom to keep any gains they generate. Interestingly, losses will not fall on contestants as Aster will absorb them.

Contest Prize Structure and Key Dates

The top spot carries a headline reward of $100,000, but only if a human finishes first.

If an AI model leads the rankings, that portion is withheld, though all profitable human traders will still share a minimum $50,000 pool. That pool doubles to $100,000 if humans collectively outperform AI in overall returns.

Registrations opened on November 28 and will remain available until December 4. The team will notify selected participants on December 7, with trading set to begin two days later. Prize distribution is expected within a week after final checks are completed.

What’s Next for Aster?

The contest follows the recent rollout of Aster’s highly anticipated Rocket Launch campaign , which allows users to gain exposure to early-stage crypto projects before major exchange listings.

Analysts believe that the latest announcement could boost ASTER’s market presence. The new crypto project has climbed more than 1,200% since its launch in September, according to the data by CoinMarketCap.

Meanwhile, Aster is working on a new privacy-oriented Layer 1 chain for high-speed trading. The project aims to deliver exchange-level performance while keeping activity verifiable on-chain. A public testnet is scheduled for late 2025, with a mainnet set for early 2026.