Aster burns $79.81M in tokens; token drops 2.7%

Aster executed a 77 million token burn on midnight Friday, coinciding with the completion of its latest buyback program. The burn removed nearly $80 million worth of ASTER from circulation, although the token defied supply-demand dynamics and dipped 2.7% in the last 24 hours.

The now-completed S3 buyback program repurchased a total of 155.7 million ASTER tokens. It split the repurchased supply into two equal parts, with one half sent to the burn address and the other locked for ecosystem incentives.

In a notice published on social platform X today, Aster confirmed that 77,860,328 ASTER were permanently removed from the circulating supply through a burn transaction sent to a dead address, 0x0000…0000dEaD. According to the DEX’s team, the token burn fulfills its commitments to use the buyback process by reducing the supply accessible to the market.

The team allocated an equal amount of repurchased tokens to a locked wallet, which now sits at 0xE8c3e…A51A892. Aster said the locked allocation will support user rewards, fund airdrops and events, alongside building grants to improve the ecosystem’s development.

Aster burns tokens after 2026 roadmap announcement 

The decentralized exchange’s token burn came on the heels of an H1 2026 roadmap reveal made on Thursday. Aster’s team coined its late 2025 debut “a period of consolidation” where it built a foundation for product development and exchange operations, including the Astherus and ApolloX merger, its mobile application launch, completion of its token generation event (TGE), and listings on centralized exchanges like Binance.

Executives stated that the platform also offered several trading features, including Hedge Mode, Trade & Earn, and the buyback program, which facilitated the latest burn. According to the roadmap, Aster will wind down 2025 with scheduled product releases, including Shield Mode, a private high-leverage trading solution combined with TWAP strategy orders. 

Before the year comes to a close, the Aster Chain testnet will open to the community for testing to prepare the platform for its transition into a dedicated Layer 1 ecosystem in the first quarter of 2026. That release will be accompanied by Aster Code for developers and fiat on- and off-ramp solutions, staking, and on-chain governance in the second quarter.

Aster’s Double Harvest Phase 3 campaign entered its third day on December 3, and now has 8,479 eligible traders who must meet daily requirements to be considered in the final reward pool. 

The conditions mentioned by the DEX’s account on X include hitting at least $100,000 in daily perpetual trading volume and placing one qualifying order per day on specific markets. Minimum eligible position sizes are between $50,000 for BTC to $10,000 for smaller contracts, which traders must hit on at least six days between December 1 and 7.

Aster burn, and buyback fails to positively impact the token price

According to several market analysts citing the DEX token’s post-burn price chart, ASTER has re-entered a demand zone after absorbing a week of sell-side liquidity, dropping its value to as low as $0.9. 

Price readings on CoinGecko show the asset holding steady within the $0.95-$1.05 zone, after facing several rejections due to a supply block between $1.15 and $1.20. A successful break above the immediate resistance would give ASTER a clear lane towards $1.50, a price level last seen on October 15.

The token broke a downward trend line on Tuesday after 15 days of profit-shedding, which led to a 20% 48-hour price surge that took it to $1.08. After a negative price action dragged it back to $1.05 during Friday’s early morning trading sessions, some analysts predict the next objective is a move above $1.086, a new high above the prior weekly local maximum.

However, ASTER’s price action has stalled twice at the $1.09 resistance level, leaving the token to dip by 4% over the past 7 days. 

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