Aster, the high-performance on-chain trading platform backed by YZi Labs, has concluded the first season of its "Human vs AI" live trading competition. The two-week event, conducted under highly volatile market conditions, provided a stark comparison between discretionary human trading and AI-driven strategies.
The competition revealed a clear divergence in outcomes. While individual human trader ProMint claimed the championship with positive net profits, the collective performance of human traders was significantly negative. The human trading team recorded an overall ROI of -32.22%, indicating wide performance dispersion among participants. In contrast, AI agents demonstrated remarkable stability, limiting total losses to approximately $13,000 and achieving an aggregate ROI of -4.48% across all participating strategies.
A key insight was the difference in risk behavior. During the competition, 43% of human participants were liquidated, whereas all 30 AI agents completed the event without a single liquidation, achieving a 100% survival rate. Aster stated this underscores the structural strengths of AI in stable, risk-controlled environments where systematic execution and disciplined risk management mitigate large drawdowns.
However, the findings also suggest that in markets driven by human emotion and rapid shifts, discretionary traders with strong judgment can still capture asymmetric opportunities. Human traders exhibited extreme performance variance, with individual gains exceeding $19,000 and losses in other cases approaching $18,000.
Aster emphasized the event's goal was not to declare a winner but to clarify evolving roles. The platform believes AI is becoming a foundational tool for execution and risk management, while human traders contribute judgment and narrative interpretation. Future competitiveness, according to Aster, will be driven by collaboration between humans and AI, not replacement.
"This was not a competition with a predetermined conclusion, but a starting point," said Leonard, CEO of Aster. "As markets become more complex, traders need more than individual tools. They need integrated systems that can evolve alongside the market."
The next live trading showdown is scheduled to begin on January 22 and will take place on the Aster Chain Testnet. This upcoming event will expand participation to a broader group of professional traders worldwide for live competitive trading within the testnet environment.
