Whales have been steadily accumulating Aster (ASTER), with large holders purchasing more than $48 million worth of the token in just the past 24 hours.

The project has also gained backing from prominent figures in the crypto space, including former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ).

Whales and Experts Are Stacking Up ASTER

On-chain analytics platform Lookonchain shared via X that a mystery whale purchased 24 million ASTER valued at about $46.56 million. Address 0xFB3B deposited 73.95 million USDT to Gateio before later withdrawing the tokens. Another major holder, 0x5e30, spent 1,090 BNB ($1.11 million) to acquire 549,194 tokens at roughly $2.02 in a single transaction. That same day, 0x8bcd invested 1.188 million USDT to secure 595,580 units priced at $1.995 each.

Even seasoned traders are joining the trend, with James Wynn earning $8,032.5 in referral rewards while taking a long position on ASTER and shorting HYPE.

Aster, a decentralized exchange that offers spot and perpetuals trading, has quickly become one of the most talked-about projects in the DeFi space. Since its token generation event (TGE) in September 2025, the cryptocurrency has increased in value by more than 1,500%. CoinGecko data shows that its price remains up by over 240% in the past month and 22% in the last 24 hours at the time of writing.

CZ Boost Sends ASTER Soaring, Surpassing Hyperliquid in Revenue

A major turning point in ASTER’s price trajectory came after Binance founder CZ publicly congratulated the project on X, saying, “Well done! Good start. Keep building!”

The endorsement from one of crypto’s most influential figures sparked a wave of buying that sent the token soaring.

The reaction from the community was immediate, with some speculating that Zhao could be involved behind the scenes as part of a strategic response to Hyperliquid’s growing presence in the perpetuals DEX market.

Some X users also theorized that Aster was his reentry into high-profile crypto ventures. The rumors grew stronger after its token debut, pushing its total value locked (TVL) to nearly $2 billion, before settling at about $655 million.

The Hyperliquid competitor is backed by YZi Labs, a venture capital firm founded by CZ, formerly known as Binance Labs.

A BNB Chain representative has since confirmed that it received investment and support through their incubation program. Meanwhile, as of September 24, Aster has surpassed Hyperliquid in 24-hour revenue, posting $7.12 million compared to its counterpart’s $2.79 million.