DefiLlama has removed Aster’s perpetuals data after spotting suspicious correlations in XRP trading volumes, raising questions about how the decentralized exchange reports activity.
On Monday, DefiLlama’s pseudonymous founder, 0xngmi, noted on X that Aster’s XRP perpetual volumes mirrored Binance’s almost exactly. Such near-perfect alignment suggests potential wash trading or data manipulation, as decentralized trading usually shows independent order flow. “Until we can verify if there’s wash trading, Aster perp volumes will be delisted,” 0xngmi wrote.
Aster allows leveraged long and short positions without a centralized exchange, similar to other perpetual DEXs like Hyperliquid. The platform recently topped DefiLlama’s leaderboard for daily fees and volume, briefly overtaking Hyperliquid.
Aster’s native token, ASTER, has skyrocketed from $0.09 to over $2 in under three weeks, generating more than 1,500% gains for early investors. XRP and Ether volumes contributed significantly to Aster’s metrics.
Although one wash trading risk model rated Aster “low,” the one-to-one volume correlation with Binance triggered red flags. Hyperliquid maintained a 0.59 correlation and retained its metrics despite a “medium” risk rating.
Adding to the spotlight, Binance listed ASTER with a “Seed Tag” on Monday. The timing attracted attention as Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, an advisor to Aster, has been actively promoting the project on X.
ASTER prices initially dropped 10% following the delisting but rebounded after Binance’s listing. Aster did not respond to requests for comment.
