Aster wash trading confirmed? Volume and CEX oddly synchronized leading to delisting, causing coin price to plummet 10%

1001x leverage DEX Aster faces explosive wash trading allegations! DefiLlama's founder publicly reveals data showing that Aster's trading volume exhibits a bizarre 100% correlation with a certain mainstream Centralized Exchange's Perptual Futures, with all trading pairs displaying similar patterns. The platform rapidly delisted Aster's data, and the AST coin price plummeted over 10% to $1.83 within 24 hours. Aster once topped the DEX transaction fee and trading volume champions, but is now mired in wash trading accusations. This article provides an in-depth analysis of the controversy and responses to six major community concerns.

DefiLlama Public Evidence: Aster Volume Fully Synchronized with CEX

The decentralized derivatives exchange Aster (ASTER) has come under fire over trading data controversies. Well-known on-chain data platform DefiLlama announced that it has delisted Aster's Perptual Futures trading volume data, citing that its trading volume is highly synchronized with that of a major Centralized Exchange (CEX), raising suspicions of "wash trading" behavior. Following the news, the price of ASTER fell by over 10% within 24 hours.

· Aster Background: 1001x Leverage Multichain DEX

Aster is a multi-chain Perptual Futures DEX invested by YZi Labs, attracting attention for its high leverage trading, with key features including:

Super High Leverage: Up to 1001 Times Leverage Trading

MEV protection: Prevents miner extractable value attacks

Hide Orders: Provides advanced transaction privacy features

Multi-chain support: cross-chain Perptual Futures trading

Before the controversy erupted, Aster once topped the DefiLlama Perptual Futures DEX ranking for fees and volume, indicating its rapid rise in popularity in a short period.

0xngmi publicly questions: data synchronization ratio close to 1

(Source: X)

DefiLlama founder 0xngmi posted on the community platform X on October 5, expressing serious concerns about the data from the Aster platform. The evidence he presented shows that the trading volume of Aster has begun to exhibit a bizarrely synchronous correlation with the perpetual futures trading volume of a certain mainstream centralized exchange since last weekend.

0xngmi stated in a post: "We have been investigating the trading volume of Aster and recently found that its trading volume is almost completely in line with the trading volume of certain Centralized Exchange's Perptual Futures."

Key evidence:

The chart shared by 0xngmi shows that from late Saturday night to Sunday, the trading volume fluctuation curve of Aster and that CEX exhibits an extremely close correlation:

· XRP/USDT trading pair: The volume ratio of Aster to the CEX is about 1 (completely synchronized)

· ETH trading pair: more significant correlation

· All trading pairs: show a similar pattern

To support his point, he also released data from Aster's main competitor Hyperliquid, showing that the latter does not exhibit such an abnormal synchronization phenomenon.

Wash trading is a form of market manipulation where traders artificially create false trading volume or market activity. This behavior is usually employed to mislead investors into believing that the trading activity or liquidity of a certain asset is higher than it actually is, thereby influencing prices or attracting more traders to participate.

DefiLlama Delisting Decision: Lack of Transparency Becomes Key

0xngmi emphasized the importance of data transparency when explaining the delisting reasons: "Aster has not provided sufficient underlying data, such as who is placing orders and who is taking orders. Therefore, until we can obtain this key data to verify whether there is 'wash trading', Aster's Perptual Futures trading volume will be temporarily delisted."

In order to demonstrate its objective position, 0xngmi also states that it has never held any long or short positions in $ASTER or $HYPE .

Delisting Policy:

Delisting range: Aster Perptual Futures volume data

Removal period: Continued removal until further notice

Restoration conditions: Provide sufficient underlying data to verify authenticity.

Platform stance: Upholding the standards for accurate on-chain metrics for the platform.

Aster Controversial Data Comparison Table

! [Aster controversy data comparison table](https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-87a9b3933a-e32fad5113-153d09-69ad2a.webp019283746574839201

) 0xngmi responds to six major community concerns: no malicious targeting

The doubts regarding Aster quickly sparked widespread attention in the community, although there are also divisions in the discussions. Supporters argue that the data and chart evidence provided by 0xngmi is sufficient, suggesting that Aster may be involved in data manipulation; opponents question the motives, suspecting there may be malicious targeting against Aster.

In response, 0xngmi subsequently addressed the six major concerns of the community on X:

Question 1: Why not report existing data directly?

The community questions: "Your job is just to report data, why not report the existing data directly?"

0xngmi responded: "Our users trust our data and make investment decisions based on it. If we report incorrect data, they will make wrong decisions."

Question 2: Has DefiLlama been bought off?

The community questions: "You were bought off to have it delisted."

0xngmi responded: "We have not been bought off, DefiLlama has never charged any fees for listings or delistings. Furthermore, personally, I have never held any positions in HYPE or ASTER."

Question 3: Why is it being delisted now?

The community questions: "Why is the delisting happening now, instead of earlier?"

0xngmi responded: "In the past few days, the volume has increased significantly, prompting us to conduct a deeper investigation. I asked our team to look into it, and after they reported the results, I took action."

Question 4: Why is it publicly released instead of being quietly delisted?

The community questions: "Why not quietly delist, but instead publicly announce it?"

0xngmi responded: "We did do this before. Previously, Aster's revenue data did not exclude discounts to users, leading to data bloat. We quietly delisted, explained the reasons in the public forum, and waited for the data to be corrected and relisted. This has led some people to speculate about conspiracy theories, question why we quietly delisted (although everything is public, but because it is not published on X, people do not see it), saying that we have insider trading. So it doesn't work."

Question 5: Why not retain and add a warning?

The community questions: "Why not keep Aster and just add a warning?"

0xngmi replied: "Because this will affect our total Perptual Futures data, and our API does not support this feature, users of the API will not be able to know the warning. However, we have no objections to this; if users wish to do so, we can consider making changes."

Question 6: Is it aimed at Aster?

The community questions: "You are only targeting Aster."

0xngmi responded: "We are not targeting Aster. We have previously delisted Lighter and many other Perp DEXs due to obvious wash trading. What we care about is the integrity of the data."

Market Impact: AST coin big dump, official silence

The news dealt a heavy blow to Aster, dragging ###'s price down by about 10% to $1.85, and further retreating to $1.83 on October 9. The trading volume in the past 24 hours exceeded $1.06 billion, indicating the market's high attention to this event.

As of the time of writing, Aster has not yet released an official response, but the community is passionately discussing the transparency of the platform and the impact of its airdrop plan.

Community Focus:

Data Transparency: Will Aster disclose more detailed underlying trading data?

Impact of Airdrop Plans: Is there a connection between wash trading and the airdrop reward mechanism?

Regulatory Risks: Legal Consequences of Wash Trading Allegations

Competitive Advantage of Rivals: Transparent DEXs like Hyperliquid may benefit

$ASTER Historical Cases: Lighter and several other DEXs have also been delisted

0xngmi emphasized that DefiLlama is not the first platform to be delisted due to wash trading. In the past, it also delisted Lighter and many other Perptual Futures DEXs due to obvious wash trading behavior. This demonstrates DefiLlama's consistent commitment to data integrity.

Aster wash trading dispute timeline:

Last weekend: Aster volume started to show abnormal synchronization with CEX.

October 5: DefiLlama founder 0xngmi publicly questioned and delisted the data.

In the last 24 hours: ASTER coin price has fallen over 10%.

October 9: The coin price has fallen to $1.83, and the official has not yet responded.

Current status: Waiting for Aster to provide underlying data for delisting recovery.