DeFi Llama исключила Aster из-за подозрительных торговых практик DeFi Llama Excludes Aster Due to Suspected Trading Manipulations

The analytical platform DeFi Llama has removed trading volume data for futures on the decentralized exchange Aster. This was reported by co-founder 0xngmi.

According to him, the trading activity on Aster suspiciously aligns with volumes on Binance, with the correlation coefficient between the two platforms approaching 1. However, no similar trend has been noted for Hyperliquid.

The expert explained that the main challenge lies in the inability to verify the accuracy of the metrics from DEX for perpetual futures trading within the BNB Chain ecosystem.

«Aster does not allow obtaining lower-level data, such as who places and executes orders. Therefore, until we receive this data to verify the existence of wash trading, Aster Perp volumes will be excluded from the listing,» 0xngmi wrote.

Prior to this, the exchange, backed by Binance and Changpeng Zhao, led the segment in commission volumes and trading. Its TVL exceeded $2.4 billion.

Users had long been accusing Aster of manipulation. On September 20, on-chain analyst under the pseudonym tracer reported that Binance had real-time sold millions of ASTER coins.

Crypto trader cyclop pointed out that 96% of the asset’s supply is controlled by six wallets linked to a single entity.

In the wake of DeFi Llama’s decision, the community has split into two factions. Some users commend the analytical platform for making a «difficult decision,» while others argue about centralization.

«Delisting Aster from DeFi Llama is not the best example of decentralization. For more accurate information, use Dune,» one user wrote.

Simon Dedich, the founder of the investment firm Moonrock Capital, supported the platform’s founder, noting that he «has long spoken about the inflated volumes of Aster.»

«Slowly but surely, their house of cards is starting to collapse,» he wrote.

Investor Andy Lian voiced an «impartial opinion,» stating that wash trading exists on all crypto platforms:

«It only doesn’t exist on those who haven’t succeeded. There are no saints here. It’s all about the scale of manipulation. Most [projects] are not fully decentralized.»

The majority of the community disagreed with him, including on-chain detective ZachXBT.

«A dreadful position that normalizes wash trading is harmful to the entire industry,» he commented.

Co-founder of DeFi Llama addressed some of the concerns from the Aster community. 0xngmi emphasized that the platform never received payment for adding or removing projects, and the team was prompted to investigate the exchange on the BNB Chain due to a sudden surge in volumes.

«We have previously excluded Lighter and many other perp-DEX for blatant manipulation. We only care about the integrity of our data because it is crucial for users to trust it,» he concluded.

At the time of writing, Aster had not responded to the situation.

In light of the news, the price of the native token of the perp-DEX dropped by 10% to $1.8. By the time of writing, the asset’s price had recovered to $2.07, with a market capitalization of $3.4 billion.

A positive impact on the price was attributed to Binance’s announcement. The exchange announced the listing of ASTER on the spot market on October 6.

Recall that in early October, the community accused the team of the stablecoin project Plasma of insider trading due to the collapse of XPL.