Airdrop Unlocks & Whale Selling
Aster’s price has dropped sharply this week, falling below $1.60, down around 20% in just a few days. The sell‑off comes as the project heads into a key event that has traders worried; a massive airdrop unlock without any confirmed vesting schedule.
The main reason behind the current crash is the upcoming Phase 2 airdrop, set for October 17. This release will unlock about 4% of the total supply, or roughly 320 million ASTER tokens. So far, the team hasn’t confirmed whether these tokens will be subject to vesting, meaning some holders could dump their entire allocation at once.
Previous unlocks have already shown what can happen when that occurs. On October 9, one whale reportedly sold over $12 million worth of ASTER, triggering a wave of panic selling. On‑chain data since October 7 also shows that retail wallets have been withdrawing tokens from exchanges – a sign of accumulation – but this hasn’t been enough to balance the pressure from large holders.
Without vesting, many traders fear this could lead to another round of sharp selling. Similar patterns were seen after Hyperliquid’s TGE, where large unlocks led to short‑term price dips before recovery.
Aster Chain Launch Still a Bullish Catalyst
Despite the short‑term pain, there are still reasons to stay optimistic. Aster is preparing to launch its own Layer 1 blockchain in Q4 2025, focused on private trade execution and cross‑chain collateralization.
The project has also rolled out new products, including 24/7 stock perpetuals and Hidden Orders – tools designed to protect traders from MEV and improve privacy. These updates could help attract institutional users and boost protocol fees, which already exceed $7 million per day.
If these upgrades deliver, Aster could see renewed interest from professional traders and liquidity providers.
Aster was a hot story recently after briefly overtaking Hyperliquid in daily trading volume – posting $36 billion compared to Hyperliquid’s $10 billion on September 24. However, that success was clouded by allegations of wash trading.
While Binance’s Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has publicly praised Aster, platforms like DeFiLlama removed its data due to concerns about inflated activity. For now, that keeps market confidence mixed – and until Aster proves its trading volume is organic, investors may stay cautious.