The recent wave of intense selling in the cryptocurrency market has stirred concern among many, with Aster (ASTER) being one of the most impacted tokens. Yet, Aster is now showing signs of recovery, experiencing a 13% increase in the last 24 hours, reaching a value of $1.56. In September, Aster had plummeted from $2.30 to $1.10, losing half of its value. This decline was significantly influenced by its removal from DeFiLlama, a $12 million transfer to Binance, and airdrop delays.
Airdrop Delay and Uncertainty Ahead
The removal of Aster from DeFiLlama has reignited discussions on transparency and trust within the decentralized finance sector. The analytics platform identified suspicious similarities in Aster’s trading volumes with Binance’s data, raising questions about the token’s organic growth. Some analysts argue that this incident highlights DeFi’s incomplete independence from central authorities. Currently, approximately one-fourth of exchanges still inflate their trading volumes through “wash trading,” showcasing the sector’s fragile trust once again.
The Aster team announced the postponement of the second airdrop phase, initially scheduled for October 14, to October 20. The delay was attributed to distribution errors, with confirmation that 4% of the total supply would soon be transferred to the treasury contract. However, concerns arose as analysts pointed out that allocating more than half of the supply to future airdrops could present a dilution risk in the market.
From a technical perspective, Aster is demonstrating signs of recovery. The RSI indicator has risen above the neutral zone, while the MACD has turned positive. A breakout above $1.60 could pave the way for a new rise toward the $1.70 and the psychological $2 levels. However, analysts caution that this movement might be a temporary “dead cat bounce.”
Similar Incidents
A similar issue was highlighted last week with SushiSwap’s Total Value Locked (TVL) discrepancies. DeFiLlama identified inflation in SushiSwap’s locked value and temporarily delisted the project. This incident further underscores that the concept of “trust” has yet to be fully established in the decentralized finance ecosystem.
Aster’s rapid recovery, despite the prevalent uncertainty in the crypto market, demonstrates investors’ willingness to capitalize on short-term opportunities. Nonetheless, trust crises and airdrop uncertainties continue to pose risks to long-term sustainability. Without the establishment of trust, the market will struggle to engage in a sustainable recovery process.
