Six months ago, the wallet product of a leading exchange still appeared quite rudimentary, with users constantly complaining. Fast forward to early 2026, and the situation has completely reversed—wallets are now directly integrated with perps contracts, utilizing Aster technology architecture at the core, which has instantly opened up a new chapter for on-chain contract trading.

Some might say, isn't it just opening a contract feature? What's the big deal? Actually, the strategic intent behind this move is worth a closer look.

First is the reconstruction of technology and traffic. The Aster team's underlying contract technology is already quite mature. By directly integrating with wallets, it can divert exchange traffic to the chain, which is not only a risk diversification strategy but also a preparation for the on-chain era in 2026. Especially under the increasing regulatory pressure on exchanges, this migration becomes particularly crucial.

Second, this paves the way for future expansion of prediction markets. Recently, prediction markets in the US have been quite popular. Integrating contract functionality into wallets is essentially a technical reserve for the prediction market ecosystem. Of course, apart from some prediction platforms with good user experience, other in-house products still lag behind in user experience and are not yet ready for direct access.

Most importantly, security and privacy issues. Private key leaks, mnemonic mishandling, phishing attacks—on-chain assets face numerous risks. Many large holders seek privacy transactions, and traditional wallets and DEXs indeed struggle to fully meet these needs. Conducting trusted transactions directly on-chain provides users with an extra layer of security.

This move transforms wallets from passive tools into active trading hubs.