Aster Faces Market Turbulence as DefiLlama Delists Exchange Amid Wash Trading Allegations
Aster (ASTER), a decentralized exchange that never closes and is tied to former Binance CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, is seeing a lot of downward
Quick overview
- Aster (ASTER) is experiencing significant downward pressure after DefiLlama removed its trade volume statistics due to suspicious activity patterns.
- The token has dropped 6.2% in the last 24 hours, continuing a trend of over 10% losses since the allegations surfaced.
- Technical analysis indicates that ASTER is facing increased selling pressure, with potential further declines if it breaks below key support levels.
- Despite upcoming airdrop events that may provide temporary support, the overall outlook for ASTER remains bearish amid wash trading concerns.
Aster (ASTER), a decentralized exchange that never closes and is tied to former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, is seeing a lot of downward pressure after DefiLlama, a well-known DeFi analytics platform, took down the platform’s trade volume statistics because of strange activity patterns. As of this writing, ASTER is trading at $1.88, which is a 6.2% drop in the last 24 hours and a continuation of losses that have been more than 10% since the issue began.
Suspicious Volume Correlation Triggers Aster’s DefiLlama Delisting
The argument started when 0xngmi, the pseudonymous co-founder of DefiLlama, said that Aster’s perpetual trading volumes were almost exactly the same as Binance’s perpetual futures volumes. 0xngmi published statistics that showed the correlation ratio between the two exchanges was close to 1.0. This means that the trading activity on the two platforms was “mirroring Binance Perp volumes almost exactly.”
The timing of this association is especially worrying because the pattern appeared out of nowhere over the weekend, with tight volume synchronization starting late Saturday and lasting through Sunday. DefiLlama’s research showed that comparable correlations don’t happen on other platforms like Hyperliquid, which makes Aster’s reported trading activity seem suspicious.
0xngmi said, “Aster doesn’t let you get lower-level data, like who is making and filling orders, so until we can get that data to check for wash trading, Aster perpetual volumes will be delisted.” This shows how the platform’s order book data isn’t very clear.
ASTER/USD Technical Analysis Points to Continued Weakness
From a technical point of view, the price movement of ASTER shows that there is more selling pressure after the accusations. The token has dropped a lot from its all-time high of $2.30, which is about 18% lower than that amount. The price of $1.88 is below the important psychological support level of $2.00. The breach below this level on high volume means that there is more risk of the price going down.
The 24-hour trading pattern reveals more volatility, and the strong 6.2% drop suggests that traders are reevaluating their positions because of the wash trading fears. Volume analysis shows that selling pressure has increased, especially among short-term traders who may have been drawn to the platform’s rapid gain in September.
Aster Price Prediction: Bearish Near-Term, Uncertain Long-Term Outlook
In the short run, technical signs show that ASTER is up against a lot of problems. If the price breaks below $1.75 or $1.50, it might speed up losses toward the $1.20–$1.30 range. The DefiLlama delisting hurt its credibility, and people are feeling bad about it, which makes it hard for prices to go back up.
But the imminent launch of the airdrop checker on October 10 and the claim date on October 14 should give some temporary assistance while people wait for their Stage 2 allocations, which will be 4% of the overall supply (320 million tokens). The no-lockup structure means that selling pressure can happen right away, but Aster’s stated weekly fee production of over $120 million might be used to buy back shares and keep prices stable.
Analyst Marcell’s September prediction of a possible 480% rise to $10 currently seems too rosy considering the current situation. A more plausible scenario says that ASTER will trade between $1.50 and $2.20 in the next few weeks as the market waits for further information about the Stage 3 airdrop and thinks about the wash trading claims.
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