CZ Endorses Hyperliquid Rival Aster DEX, Token Rallies 1,500%

Aster, a new decentralized perpetual exchange, is one of the popular names in crypto right now. Heavy whale activity and public praise by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) have boosted it. The project’s token price increased by over 1,500% within a week.

Whale buys and CZ endorsement led to 1,500% increase in Aster Price

The increase came about when CZ shared his remarks about the DEX on social media. He pointed out that Aster has become one of the largest holders of BSC-USDT outside Binance’s own wallets.

In a separate post, Zhao praised the project’s multi-chain support and hidden order features. Recently, CZ also urged banks to adopt BNB, underscoring his interest in promoting useful products from the crypto ecosystem.

He also stressed that Aster is not a BNB Chain-exclusive platform but operates across multiple networks. Earlier, he shared a trading screenshot with the message: “Well done! Good start. Keep building!”

The endorsement from Binance’s founder placed the DEX directly in the spotlight. The token price skyrocketed from about $0.09 to $1.47 within seven days, pushing its market cap above $2.3 billion. According to CoinMarketCap, trading volume has surged over 160% in 24 hours, hitting $1.22 billion.

The surge gained further momentum when whales started accumulating the token in bulk. Lookonchain data shows one whale spent $2 million in USDT to buy 1.825 million ASTER and even borrowed more funds from Aave to increase exposure.

Also, Trader @CookerFlips deposited $1.24 million into ASTER over three days, then withdrew tokens worth $6.7 million. The transaction resulted in over $5 million in profit.

Aster Outpaces Hyperliquid in TVL but Not in Trading Volume

DeFiLlama data shows that the total value locked (TVL) in Aster increased to nearly $870 million. Also, its perpetual contract trades have exceeded $17 billion in one month. The fees and revenue reports show that the platform has a revenue of more than $70 million annually.

Both Aster and Hyperliquid are decentralized perpetual exchanges. Aster possesses TVL of $886.65 million greater than that of Hyperliquid with $681 million. Nevertheless, Hyperliquid remains top in monthly trading volume and open interest.

This has put Aster as the leading contender in the perp-DEX marketplace. Speculation around CZ’s possible return to Binance has further spotlighted his influence on projects in the crypto space, including Aster.

Beyond speculation, the DEX also has documented links to Binance’s ecosystem. Binance co-founder CZ has distanced himself from operations. But YZi Labs, (formerly Binance Labs) and tied to CZ and Yi He, invested in Aster last year. Aster received mentorship, exposure, and resources through the program.