The Aster token experienced a price surge of over 30% on Sunday after Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, co-founder of Binance, disclosed a personal holding of over $2.5 million in the token. The revelation was made via an X post, where CZ stated he had purchased Aster using his own money on the Binance platform.
“I am not a trader. I buy and hold,” CZ wrote, indicating his long-term investment strategy. Following the post, Aster's price surged from $0.91 to a peak of $1.26, and was trading at $1.22 at the time of publication, according to CoinGecko data.
CZ's disclosure triggered a significant increase in Aster's trading volume over the past 24 hours, skyrocketing from $224 million to over $2 billion. The token's market capitalization also grew in tandem, from $1.8 billion to over $2.5 billion. This market reaction underscores the substantial influence of figures like CZ in the crypto ecosystem.
However, not everyone is convinced the rally will last. Several large investors, known as "whales," are taking short positions on Aster, betting against its price increase. One trader built up a short position worth $52.8 million (42.97 million tokens) with a liquidation price of $2, while another trader increased their short position to $19.1 million (15.3 million tokens) with a liquidation price of $2.1, according to blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain.
CZ's connection to the Aster project has itself been under scrutiny. Previously, in September, CZ congratulated Aster on X and encouraged its developers to "keep building." Furthermore, YZi Labs, CZ's family office formerly known as Binance Labs, invested in Aster's predecessor, Astherus, last year. Aster itself was formed from a merger between Astherus and the decentralized perpetuals protocol APX Finance in late 2024. While there has been support from BNB Chain and YZi Labs, CZ's direct involvement has not been officially disclosed.