Aster DEX Risk Management Checklist — Trade Perps Safely

Why Aster Traders Need a Written Checklist

Aster DEX offers perpetuals with competitive fees and a feature set aimed at active traders. Speed and leverage make it easy to skip process. A short written checklist is not bureaucracy — it is how you prevent the same three mistakes: oversized entries, missing stops, and ignored funding. Use this page as a living template; customize numbers to your account size, but do not skip sections.

If you are new to the venue, pair this checklist with the Aster beginners tutorial and fee structure overview so cost and risk sit in the same mental model.

Pre-Session Setup (Once Per Day)

Wallet hygiene: Trading wallet funded with only today’s risk capital. Seed phrase never entered into a site that is not the real Aster domain.
Network and RPC: Confirm you are on the correct chain and that the UI shows the balances you expect.
Fee awareness: Know maker/taker rates for your tier. Join with code 4474ca if you do not yet have a referral linked.
Health baseline: Note starting equity. You will compare end-of-day equity to this number without excuses.
News window: Check whether major macro prints or token unlocks hit during your session.

Open Aster With Referral 4474ca

Link code 4474ca, then run this checklist on every session before size goes up.

Start on Aster — 4474ca

Pre-Trade Checklist (Every Position)

Thesis in one sentence: If you cannot write it, you do not have one.
Invalidation level: Hard price where the idea is wrong — not where pain feels bad.
Position size: Risk only 0.25–1% of equity to the stop on standard trades; less on illiquid alts.
Leverage cap: Choose leverage so liquidation sits beyond invalidation with buffer for fees and mark noise.
Margin mode: Isolated for speculative singles; cross only for deliberate hedges you monitor.
Order plan: Entry type (limit vs market), stop type, take-profit ladder or scale-out rules.
Funding forecast: Estimate cost if held across the next one to three funding intervals — see Aster funding rates explained.
Correlation check: Does this trade double an existing book risk (for example another long beta alt)?

In-Trade Management Rules

Do not remove a stop to “give it room” without reducing size first.
Move stops to breakeven only after structure confirms, not after a random green candle.
Add size only if the original risk unit is unchanged or reduced (pyramiding with rules, not hope).
If funding flips heavily against you and thesis is only “still maybe,” flatten — bleed is optional.
After two full stop-outs in a session, stop trading. Review, do not revenge.

Liquidation and Platform-Specific Guards

Know where maintenance margin sits relative to your stop. A stop that is tighter than realistic gap risk still needs room so a wicked mark does not liquidate you before the stop rests. Review Aster margin and leverage and advanced order types so protective orders match the UI you actually click.

Also confirm deposit and withdrawal paths while calm — not during a chain congestion event. The deposit and withdrawal guide is worth one careful read before you scale capital.

End-of-Day Review (Ten Minutes)

Equity change vs starting baseline; separate trading PnL from funding and fees if the UI allows.
Checklist breaches: which rules did you skip, and what did it cost?
Screenshot or export fills for the journal.
Open risk overnight: if any, write why it survives the Asia session alone.
One improvement for tomorrow — only one, so it sticks.

Sample Risk Numbers (Illustrative)

On a $10,000 Aster equity account: max daily loss 2% ($200) stops the session; per-trade risk 0.5% ($50) to stop; max concurrent risk units 3; no single illiquid alt above 0.25% risk; overnight directional notional capped so a 5% gap is survivable without forced liquidation. Adjust downward if you are still learning the platform’s mark price behavior.