Aster Token Surges 96% Amid Manipulation Allegations

Aster, a decentralized exchange (DEX) known for its high-frequency perpetuals trading, has been at the center of a growing controversy following the explosive performance of its newly launched token, ASTER. The token's meteoric rise has drawn intense scrutiny from market participants and analysts alike, with allegations of market manipulation and concentrated holdings fueling the debate.

Since its token generation event (TGE) on Sept. 17, ASTER has been listed on various centralized and decentralized exchanges, including Bitget and Bybit, as well as DEX platforms across multiple networks such as BNB Chain, Ethereum, Solana, and Arbitrum. The token's rapid rise and claims that just six wallets hold or control more than 96% of the ASTER supply have sparked allegations of market manipulation. Some users on the social media platform X argued that such concentrated ownership makes ASTER vulnerable to the influence of those controlling the wallets. Others alleged that Binance holds 95% of the 1.65 billion ASTER tokens currently in circulation.

Cyclop, a crypto trader and angel investor, argued that Aster does not have a working product to justify the market’s valuation of the token. He stated that in today’s crypto world, often it is not real utility that drives a token’s price. Instead, it is the profile of the people backing the project and the funding behind it that matters. This perspective gained traction following Binance founder CZ’s apparent endorsement of Aster via his X account. CZ’s post, interpreted by many as tacit support, raised eyebrows given his historically cautious approach to public endorsements.

Meanwhile, some social media users speculated on why ASTER was listed on perpetual futures contracts or perps markets first, prior to listing on spot markets. One user posited that this was done to encourage investors to short it, arguing that this process is likely to continue until Aster gains enough power to dominate Hyperiquid. The user explained that the whole market is dumping, one token is going up, let’s short it. They will liquidate all these sellers to pump $Aster even more volatile. You saw the dip at $1. You saw the dip before $2.

SafePal announced the native integration of BNB Chain decentralized exchange Aster, becoming the first Web3 wallet brand to make such an announcement. Users can now directly conduct contract trades within the SafePal App without the need for KYC. Aster offers highly competitive low fees: Maker 0.01% / Taker 0.035%, lower than Hyperliquid's 0.015% / 0.045%. Aster's distinctive features include: Stock Perpetual Contracts, CLOB Order Book Mechanism, Stablecoins USDF & asUSDF ecosystem, etc., providing users with a more diverse trading experience. SafePal users can conveniently manage assets and conduct contract trades within the wallet, seizing the trend of Aster and BNB Chain popularity.

There has been remarkable whale activity in the cryptocurrency market in recent hours. According to on-chain data, a whale believed to be TechnoRevenant withdrew 2.39 million HYPE from his wallet approximately four hours ago. The tokens in question were reportedly purchased approximately nine months ago by the whale's main wallet, with an average cost base of around $12. This means the whale currently has over $90 million in unrealized profits. Meanwhile, BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes sold off the 96,628 HYPE he purchased about a month ago, effectively removing it from his portfolio. Hayes made a profit of approximately $823,000 from this transaction. HYPE stands out as the biggest competitor to the recently released and popular ASTER. Additionally, another unidentified whale withdrew 50.1 million ASTER from the Aster platform in the last 4 hours and distributed it to 10 different new wallets.