Blog

• Astrolescent Reaches $4 Million in Total Bridge Volume

  Astrolescent - August 19, 2025

  The Astrolescent journey through DeFi space continues to accelerate. We’re excited to share that our cross-chain bridge has now facilitated over $4,000,000 in total volume.From the very beginning, our mission has been clear: make Radix the gateway to the wider DeFi universe. Every trade, every bridge, every user who trusted Astrolescent has helped bring us to this milestone.Why this mattersCross-chain activity is the lifeblood of DeFi. By connecting Radix with ecosystems like Ethereum, Solana, Arbitrum, SUI, Aptos, Sonic, and more, Astrolescent empowers users to move freely across chains while keeping costs low and execution simple. Milestones like this show real adoption and community trust.Looking aheadWe’re not slowing down. With integrations like Hyperlane on the horizon and constant improvements to our aggregator, Astrolescent is committed to being the most reliable and efficient gateway for Radix users.To everyone who’s used the bridge so far: thank you for being part of this journey. We’re building the future of DeFi connectivity together.👉 Start bridging here: astrolescent.com

• We’re Moving the Bridge to the Front Door

  Astrolescent - August 19, 2025

  Over the past year, something shifted.When we first launched Astrolescent, the main idea was to be a decentralized exchange aggregator for the Radix network. A simple, clean way to get the best rates when swapping tokens. And while our swap still gets regular use, that’s not what most people associate us with anymore.We’ve become known for our bridge.That wasn’t the plan. It just happened.We were the first on Radix to integrate Maya Protocol, which gave users access to real cross-chain swaps: no wrapped tokens, no sketchy workarounds.Later we added RocketX, and most of the cross-chain volume from Radix now flows through us. We built what people needed, and the community started calling us “the bridge.”It’s become clear: the bridge is what people use, and what we’re proud of.So, what’s changing?Right now, the homepage of Astrolescent shows our Radix-native swap by default. If you want to access the bridge, you have to go to /bridge or find it in the menu.That made sense when we launched, but now it doesn’t. Most users come to Astrolescent for one thing: to move assets across chains. So we’re flipping it.Here’s the plan:The bridge will become the homepage.The current swap UI will move to /swap, and will remain fully functional.In the near future, if you do a Radix-to-Radix swap through the bridge, we’ll automatically route it via our aggregator, so you still get the best price without needing to go anywhere else.Nothing is being removed. We’re just making the default experience better aligned with how people actually use the platform.Why not kill the swap altogether?Because people still use it and we don’t mind supporting it. We love our aggregator!While we don’t charge a fee on native Radix swaps, our API and widget integrations do generate revenue. More importantly, they make it easier for other apps and users to integrate into the ecosystem.So the swap stays. It’s just not front and center anymore.If you’re a Radix-only user who prefers that view, it’ll still be available at astrolescent.com/swap, and linked in the menu. Nothing changes for you.What’s next?Long-term, we want the experience to be seamless. Whether you’re swapping two Radix tokens, bridging between Radix and Ethereum, or trading SOL into ASTRL, we want it to just work. One flow, one interface, one click.This homepage update is a small step in that direction. It removes unnecessary decisions for users, keeps things simple, and puts our strongest product front and center.Let us know what you think , or if anything breaks.I’m good at moving fast (and sometimes breaking things).— Timan

• Base is Now Live on the Astrolescent Bridge

  Astrolescent - August 19, 2025

  Astrolescent just took another leap forward in connecting the DeFi multiverse. You can now bridge to and from Base, one of the fastest-growing L2 ecosystems, directly from Radix, Solana, SUI, Sonic, Aptos, and Arbitrum using our cross-chain bridge.This isn’t just about adding one chain. It’s part of a much bigger upgrade behind the scenes.A Faster Path to More EVM ChainsWe’ve completely rewritten how we integrate EVM wallets under the hood. That means we can now onboard new EVM-compatible chains much more quickly and reliably.BNB Chain, Hyperliquid, and Gnosis are already on our radar. Got a favorite we haven’t mentioned? Let us know — we’re listening.Hyperlane Support Coming NextWe’ve also started integrating Hyperlane, the new permissionless interoperability layer. As soon as it goes live in August, we’ll be ready. That means faster, more composable bridging between ecosystems — all routed through the Astrolescent interface you already use and trust.Start Bridging to Base TodayBase is already live on our bridge. So if you’ve been looking for a smooth way to move assets between Base and Radix (or any of the other supported chains), you can start right now:👉 https://astrolescent.com/bridgeWe’re committed to giving you access to the best of every chain — without needing to leave your orbit.

• A Clarification on $ASTRA vs $ASTRL

  Astrolescent - August 19, 2025

  As part of our latest video series, we launched $ASTRA, a playful meme coin created to help Astra, our AI co-pilot, explore the Radix ecosystem via rly.fun. It was meant as a fun demo… but the community had other plans. $ASTRA graduated, and faster than expected 🚀So let’s clear up the star map:🌟 $ASTRL is the official utility token of Astrolescent.It powers our ecosystem and gives stakers 100% of protocol profits through sASTRL.🪐 $ASTRA is a meme coin created for education and entertainment.Astra will use it in upcoming videos to walk through DeFi tutorials: providing liquidity, borrowing, lending, NFTs, and more.I didn’t plan for $ASTRA to take off like this, but I’ll take good care of it. Just remember:$ASTRA is for fun. $ASTRL is the real deal.– TimanCommander of the Astrolescent mission ✨

• Bridge $ADA to Radix — Cardano Now Live on Astrolescent

  Astrolescent - August 19, 2025

  Bridge $ADA to Radix — Cardano Now Live on AstrolescentAnother chain connected. Another step forward for DeFi without borders.You can now bridge ADA from Cardano directly into Radix using the Astrolescent bridge — fast, secure, and without the need for signups.Whether you’re looking to stake, swap, or explore the Radix DeFi ecosystem, moving assets from Cardano just became frictionless.🚀 How It WorksWe’ve made it simple — even if it’s your first time using Radix.Watch the short walkthrough video below to see exactly how to:Download the Radix WalletUse the Astrolescent BridgeConnect your wallet and sign the transactionTrack your transfer live with built-in Track & TraceReceive your XRD on Radix, ready to go🎥 Watch the full guide here:https://medium.com/media/25c46dc79a404955a428057346fd5d73/href🔁 Why Bridge with Astrolescent?⚡ Fast & efficient: Most transfers settle in minutes🔒 Secure by design: No need to sign up, simply swap wallet to wallet💫 Track & Trace: Real-time updates every step of the way🌐 Fully integrated: Works seamlessly with our swap aggregator, validator, and staking rewards🌠 Cardano → Radix = Just the BeginningThis is part of our larger mission: connecting Radix to the rest of DeFi — one bridge at a time.Start your bridge here:🔗 astrolescent.com/bridge

• MCP Hackathon Results: Meet the Winners

  Astrolescent - August 19, 2025

  Earlier this month, we launched a niche experiment: what happens when you give builders a way to connect AI agents directly to live DeFi data on Radix?The result? Over a dozen teams participated in the first Astrolescent MCP Hackathon, exploring the potential of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to bridge the gap between LLMs and real DeFi tools.Today, we’re excited to share the winners.🥇 Winner: Claudio🏅 6,000 ASTRL (~$500)➕ 1,200 ASTRL Multi-MCP Bonus (~$100)Claudio is a crypto assistant for Radix users — and it’s one of the most ambitious MCP builds we’ve seen.Built on n8n, Claudio combines:3 integrated MCP servers (Astrolescent, Ociswap, and Radix Mainnet — the last two built custom from scratch)Dual AI models: Claude for data interpretation, Ollama for fast, lightweight answersThe result is an assistant that helps users manage their portfolio, assess their positions, and make better decisions — all using live on-chain data.🎥 Watch the demo🥈 Runner-Up: ASTRL MCP Portfolio Optimizer🏅 3,000 ASTRL (~$250)The ASTRL Portfolio Optimizer is a clean and focused tool: a yield optimizer powered by Claude Desktop that fetches real-time APY data from the Astrolescent MCP server.Based on the user’s portfolio, it:Calculates the best available yield strategyGenerates the correct Radix Transaction Manifest (RTM) to execute itSimple, powerful, and directly useful for Radix DeFi users.🎥 Watch the demo🌱 Ecosystem Prize: Root MCP Server🏅 1,200 ASTRL (~$100)This entry didn’t use the Astrolescent MCP server, so it wasn’t eligible for the main prizes — but we still wanted to recognize it.The team built a full-featured MCP server for Root, delivering a valuable toolset for the Radix ecosystem:Tools to analyze yield strategy performanceLiquidation risk simulationsPosition composition breakdownsAll for the Root Finance borrow/lend platform.It’s a strong foundation for anyone building agent-based tools around lending on Radix.🎉 Final ThoughtsWe’re thrilled with how the first MCP Hackathon turned out — especially for such a niche and experimental concept. Connecting AI to DeFi is still new territory, but the creativity and technical range of submissions shows there’s real potential here.We’ll be back in the fall with a bigger round, more tools, and more challenges.Until then:Keep building.Keep experimenting.And help make AI actually understand DeFi.🧠💫

• Agents of DeFi: Join the Astrolescent MCP Hackathon

  Astrolescent - August 19, 2025

  The next frontier in DeFi is here — and it’s powered by AI.We’re launching the first-ever Astrolescent MCP Hackathon, a 10-day online event designed to bring developers, prompt engineers, and AI tinkerers together to explore the Model Context Protocol and its real-time connection to DeFi.Whether you’re building a chatbot, scripting an agent, or hacking together a price-checking tool, this is your chance to experiment, learn, and earn rewards — all while helping connect AI to live, decentralized data on Radix.🧠 What is an MCP Server?The Model Context Protocol (MCP) allows AI agents (like ChatGPT, Claude, or custom tools) to access structured tools directly from a prompt. The Astrolescent MCP server exposes real-time data from the Radix DeFi ecosystem:💸 Price: Live token prices in XRD and USD🔁 Quote: Swap tokens across Radix DEXes🌉 Bridge: Move assets between supported crypto chains📈 APY: Real-time staking and liquidity yieldsThink of it as a bridge between your LLM and on-chain data.📚 View the Docs🎯 The ChallengeBuild anything that uses the Astrolescent MCP server to make DeFi data usable inside an agent, app, or interface.Ideas include:LLM Trading SidekickPromptable GPT agent that acts like a DeFi assistant.“What If I Staked…” CalculatorA calculator that answers: “If I stake 1,000 ASTRL today, what would I earn in 30 days?”“Should I Stake or LP?” HelperPrompt compares staking vs LP APY and gives basic advice.Bonus: use MCPs from other projects like DefiPlaza or Aptos EarnIf your build connects AI to real DeFi data through MCP, it qualifies.📅 Timeline📣 Announcement: May 13🚀 Hackathon Begins: June 1, 2025🛑 Hackathon EndsL June 10, 2025🧑‍⚖️ Judging + Voting: June 11–13🏆 Winners Announced: June 14💰 Prizes (Paid in $ASTRL)With $ASTRL currently trading at $0.083, here’s what’s up for grabs:🥇 Best Overall — 6,000 ASTRL (~$500)🥈 Runner-Up — 3,000 ASTRL (~$250)🫂 Community Favorite — 1,200 ASTRL (~$100)🔁 Multi-MCP Bonus — 1,200 ASTRL (~$100) for projects using additional MCP servers like Aptos Earn or DefiPlaza✅ Judging CriteriaYour submission will be evaluated based on:Usefulness — Does it solve a real problem?Creativity — How original is the approach?Execution — How functional and well-built is it?Clarity — Is the idea clearly presented?Winners will be selected by a judging panel + a community vote via X/Twitter.📬 How to ParticipateSign up now using this form.You’ll gain access to the Telegram support channel after signing up.Start building on June 1Submit your final build by June 10, including:A short description of your projectA link to the code, prompt, or appA video demo showing what you’ve built🧰 Resources📘 MCP Documentation🧪 Prompt and script examples (coming soon)🧰 Starter templates (optional)💬 Support on Telegram (after signup)🌌 Why Build with Astrolescent’s MCP Server?Learn to integrate AI with live DeFiTest new LLM capabilities in practical use casesEarn rewards and visibilityHelp expand the Radix ecosystem—Get ready to build the agents of the future.We launch June 1.

• Introducing Astrolescent V3: The Next Generation

  Astrolescent - August 19, 2025

  We are thrilled to announce the launch of Astrolescent V3 today, which features a brand-new mobile-first design, an updated algorithm, and the elimination of our trading fees.Brand new designThe most noticeable change is the completely redesigned appearance. This includes a new token icon and logo, a revamped user interface, and visuals for X and TokenTrek. The new design has been developed for mobile devices first and was then adapted for desktops to fully take advantage of the new mobile-2-mobile experience offered by the Radix network.Updated algorithmWith this release, we are also introducing an updated algorithm capable of finding more advanced routes to maximize the number of tokens you receive for every trade. We have significantly changed how we handle trades involving the wrapped assets from Instabridge. We plan to implement further updates soon to enhance the routing of any token on Radix.No more trading feesYes, we have eliminated our 0.1% trading fee! We aim to provide you with the best deal on Radix by comparing all the decentralized exchanges (DEXes) and routing your trade to ensure you get the best price. Adding a trading fee on top of the fees charged by DEXes makes it more challenging for us to fulfill this promise. Therefore, we have decided to remove the trading fee when trading via Astrolescent and explore other sources of revenue.Fee sharing with partnersA new revenue stream for us will be the ability for our partners to easily incorporate their own fees when integrating the trading widget or using our APIs. We offer a user-friendly fee component that can be added to the trading widget and our APIs, providing a means to collect all the generated fees and a user interface for withdrawing those fees.We hope you enjoy our new release!

• Astrolescent v2 launches on Babylon.

  Astrolescent - August 19, 2025

  Today, we’re proud to announce the latest release of Astrolescent. Astrolescent v2 introduces a new routing algorithm that improves route discovery and reduces price impact. It compares direct and advanced routes to get you the best deal possible when selling one token to buy another.Hop across liquidity pools to get the best price.Astrolescent v2 integrates with the most popular DEXes on Radix, starting with DefiPlaza and Ociswap. Our custom-build integrations allow for better price discovery and make it possible for Astrolescent v2 to provide a quotation even when you don’t have the tokens in your wallet.At the moment of writing, any token with at least 10,000 XRD of liquidity in a pool is automatically added to Astrolescent v2. We added this limit to prevent tokens and pools with only a few dollars of liquidity from showing up in the token lists.And best of all, while Astrolescent v2 is in beta, there are no fees!Updated designPart of our relaunch on Babylon also features an updated design that focuses entirely on what we do best: Swapping tokens — no distractions, simply the best UX.Our new homepage.Plans for the near future include returning the token prices, showing you the average weighted price of tokens and their popularity, and the Portfolio Tracker to see your holdings across multiple accounts in one overview.But the focus of Astrolescent will always remain to offer you the best UX to trade tokens.Astrolescent DAOThe Astrolescent DAO is here to give you a voice in the future of our organization. By adding the most prominent ASTRL LP tokens to the Governance Portal, we’re making the DAO more democratic and giving you the power to vote with your ASTRL and the selected LP tokens.Once this change is implemented, we’ll continue with new governance votes. We aim to make Astrolescent a genuinely decentralized organization because we are only as strong as our community.Airdrops and stakingWen airdrop? Soon! Once we shed our beta label, we’ll start our weekly volume airdrops again, dropping ASTRL to the users who trade via Astrolescent.We’re also working on ASTRL staking, where you can stake your ASTRL to receive a part of our fees in return.$ASTRL token migrationTo use the latest Babylon features, we decided to upgrade our old Olympia token to a new one. Migrating your $ASTRL is a one-click process with no deadline, although more and more dApps will only accept the new $ASTRL token.In your wallet, you can distinguish the old $astrl token from the new $ASTRL token by the token symbol (lowercase vs. uppercase), and the new $ASTRL name is Astrolescent (Babylon). Once sufficient ASTRL has been migrated, we’ll update the token name again.We worked together with Ociswap to make this transition as painless as possible. Ociswap offers a simple migration tool for all your old tokens, not just $astrl.To migrate, go to Ociswap.com and connect the account that contains your old $astrl tokens. A pop-up will appear to guide you through the process.Alternatively, you can go to Astrolescent.com and select the old and new tokens. We’ll route your swap through the same migration contracts.That’s it!Astrolescent v2 is ready to provide you with the best trading experience. Join us today!

• Astrolescent: Back To Our Core

  Astrolescent - August 19, 2025

  Astrolescent is no longer pursuing our fully collateralized stablecoin ($USDA) due to the recent insolvency of our banking partner Prime Trust. Although all contracts were signed, we reached compliance with almost all regulatory requirements, the needed SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) were written, and the development was well underway; without the required banking partner, a collateralized stablecoin can not exist.After the news concerning Prime Trust broke on June 22, we have been looking at alternative solutions. Since Prime Trust uniquely targeted stablecoin issuers, we knew this was not easy. We learned that, at this moment, no alternative banking partner exists that can deliver the same full-service approach we need to launch a collateralized stablecoin as a relatively small operation as we are.This means that we explored all available options, and we, unfortunately, have to decide it is no longer possible to launch the envisioned collateralized stablecoin.What is next for AstrolescentWe have decided to double down on our initial proposition: The decentralized exchange aggregator. The dex agg was already an essential part of our future vision for our presence on Radix, and leaving the regulatory restrictions of running a stablecoin behind, actually opens up many opportunities.First, we will move all our operations from the US to the Netherlands to move away from the increasing regulatory crackdown on crypto. Timan will take over as the lead of the Astrolescent project for the foreseeable future because Mike (Meronym) has had a very stressful last six months and needs to take a step back to recoup and destress.Secondly, we will move all our activities to a newly formed DAO, including a freshly created governance portal for community voting and a fully transparent treasury. In future governance votes, the community will be able to vote on the future evolution of Astrolescent, including how we will be spending the funds in our treasury.Thirdly, we propose to set up revenue sharing of the aggregator fees to the holders of the $ASTRL token. The exact implementation is not yet final and will be one of the first votes of the new DAO Governance portal.We hate that our remarkable journey in launching the first stablecoin on Radix has ended abruptly. At the same time, we see a bright future ahead for Astrolescent, not only with our aggregator but also with the other features we are offering already from the Astrolescent platform:A unique Radix portfolio managerCoinMarketCap-like token pages with real-time token economicsA vast array of pricing and trading APIs for our selected partnersShedding the restrictions of regulatory oversight will position Astrolescent in a unique spot where we can explore, together with our community, what will be possible on Radix.We are proud to say that Astrolescent still #runsonradix