False rumors of BlackRock ASTER ETF filing fails to spark rally

Rumors of a BlackRock ASTER ETF filing sparked speculative chatter on social media platform X, but several opinion leaders have confirmed the shared snapshot of the submission is fake.

On Monday, a social media post suggested that BlackRock had submitted an S-1 registration for a staked version of the ASTER ETF. The news spread among crypto enthusiasts, traders, and key opinion leaders (KOLs), but Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao clarified that the filing was a fabrication. 

“Fake. Even big KOLs get fooled once in a while. Aster doesn’t need these fake photoshopped pics to grow,” Zhao stated. 

The supposed BlackRock filing appeared on a post by journalist That Martini Guy B on X, which included an image of a document claiming to be filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on December 5, under the title: “iSHARES® STAKED ASTER TRUST ETF SPONSORED BY SHARES DELAWARE TRUST SPONSOR LLC.”

Aster ETF rumors ensue for the second time

This is not the first time ASTER has been caught in ETF-related speculation. In early October, posts on X claimed that Grayscale had filed an S-1 registration for an ASTER ETF. A formal filing could have allowed investors to access ASTER through a regulated fund and boosted the token’s credibility. 

After some members of the crypto community shared these rumors, ASTER trading volumes and its values ticked upwards as investors reacted to unverified information. It was all uncovered when users found the document with several inconsistencies, including a mishap on the date written as “20255,” a clear error that could not occur in a legitimate SEC document. 

A review of official SEC filings confirms there is no record of any S-1 registration for ASTER by Grayscale or BlackRock, and without formal paperwork, the rumors have been shunned as inaccurate.

Grayscale has not made any public statements regarding an ASTER ETF since the fake news was shared, and has been focusing on other crypto trusts.

Despite the lack of confirmation, many traders treated the rumor as an implicit endorsement of ASTER, resulting in a brief market surge. The token went up by over 15% to trade over $2.2, with 24-hour trading volumes climbing to $1.42 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. 

However, in BlackRock’s case, the rumors did not have a similar impact, as the token on the purported filing fell 3.94% to $0.937 in the past 24 hours, indicating that traders were skeptical about the news even before Zhao debunked the fake SEC filing.

Aster community bashed for spreading rumors, token unlock continues

A member of the ASTER development team has called out some members of the community for spreading false information about the coin, saying it was doing damage to the ecosystem’s growth. 

“Fake news is not how you build a truly loyal following / result; in the long term, neither a project nor a movement will benefit from hyped falsehoods,” the developer wrote, “Anyone sharing fake $ASTER ETF news, whether knowingly or ignorantly, is really not doing any good for the future of $ASTER. Take responsibility for what you share.”

Away from ETF fake news, ASTER will be completing its Season 4 buyback program this Wednesday. The protocol allocated 60–90% of daily fees, approximately $4 million, to buybacks, but the token’s price dipped as traders sold the news after a 10% rally to $1.05 earlier in December.

The DEX linear token unlock released $9.47 million worth of ASTER this week as part of a broader 30-day unlock schedule. The new supply entering relatively thin markets may have created downward price pressure, which could have led to ASTER’s 24-hour trading volume falling by about 41% to $216 million.

The token’s struggles occur alongside broader challenges in decentralized exchange (DEX) tokens. Rival Hyperliquid’s total value locked (TVL) fell 30% monthly as the broader crypto market is struggling with price drops, and confidence in the DEX ecosystem is dwindling. 

According to Monday’s DEX volume data from DefiLlama, Lighter XYZ led with $7.24 billion, accounting for 25.72% of the total trading volume. Aster came second with $5.59 billion, while Hyperliquid was fifth with 8.22% of total decentralized market trading volume.

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