Aster News Today: Aster's Vesting Aligns Airdrop Incentives for Long-Term Success

Aster, a decentralized derivatives exchange, is evaluating the implementation of vesting schedules for its upcoming token airdrop to mitigate immediate sell pressure and align incentives between early adopters and new holders. According to the CEO, who addressed the topic during a livestream, the decision aims to stabilize the ASTER token’s price and ensure long-term participation. “We reserve the right to implement vesting and will finalize the decision within the next two to three days,” the CEO stated, emphasizing the team’s focus on balancing community and existing tokenholder interests. The airdrop, part of Season 2, will distribute 320 million ASTER tokens (4% of the total supply) to participants, with the snapshot cutoff set for October 5, 2025.

The ASTER tokenomics allocate 53.5% of the 8 billion total supply to airdrops, with 704 million tokens (8.8% of supply) unlocked at the Token Generation Event (TGE) on September 17, 2025. The remaining airdrop tokens will vest over 80 months, ensuring gradual distribution. Ecosystem and community initiatives account for 30% of the supply, with a 20-month linear vesting schedule, while team allocations (5%) include a one-year cliff followed by a 40-month vesting period. Treasury and liquidity allocations (7% and 4.5%, respectively) remain fully locked post-TGE, reserved for strategic initiatives and operational reserves.

The airdrop’s eligibility criteria prioritize active traders using Aster’s Pro mode, with rewards tied to trading volume, order types, and collateral usage. For instance, market orders earn double points compared to limit orders, and holding positions for extended durations boosts scoring. The platform’s 1001x leverage and yield-bearing collateral options, such as asBNB and USDF, further differentiate it in the decentralized derivatives market. Unclaimed tokens by October 17 will be redirected to the ecosystem pool for future distribution.

Critics and analysts have debated the sustainability of Aster’s rapid growth, which saw its 24-hour trading volume surge to $85 billion shortly after TGE. While the airdrop has attracted significant attention, including endorsements from prominent figures like Binance’s CZ, the long-term success of the platform hinges on its ability to retain user activity post-incentives. The proposed vesting schedules aim to address concerns about liquidity shocks, as large token unlocks could otherwise destabilize the market.

Aster’s strategy mirrors broader trends in decentralized finance (DeFi), where vesting mechanisms are increasingly adopted to align tokenholder incentives with project longevity. By distributing tokens over extended periods, Aster seeks to foster a more resilient ecosystem, reducing the risk of speculative dumping and encouraging sustained participation in its perpetual trading and yield-generating products. The final decision on vesting implementation, expected within days, will shape the immediate market dynamics for ASTER and set a precedent for future airdrop strategies in the DeFi sector.