Aster exchange announced a new token‑buyback program, causing its native coin $ASTER to surge over 10% to roughly $0.80, the highest price point since January, according to CoinDesk data.
Buyback and Reward Mechanism
The protocol will allocate 99% of daily platform fees to an automated system that purchases $ASTER tokens on the open market. Each acquisition is immediately redistributed as rewards to holders of veASTER, a non‑transferable governance token created by locking $ASTER.
veASTER owners receive a share of platform fee revenue, voting authority, and reduced trading fees on the Aster DEX, aligning investor incentives with the exchange’s activity.
Supply Burn Strategy
Every token bought back triggers an equivalent burn from the protocol’s reserve, a process designed to shrink circulating supply. Bi‑weekly burns will persist until the total supply contracts to a target of 3 billion tokens.
Current circulation stands at 7.82 billion $ASTER tokens, meaning the burn schedule will need to eliminate roughly 4.82 billion tokens to meet the long‑term goal.
Market Impact and Outlook
The upgrade replaces Aster’s former linear vesting model, which released tokens automatically regardless of market demand, and concluded in January 2026. The protocol highlighted that rewards are settled on‑chain with “no discretionary reserve,” a feature that may appeal to crypto investors seeking transparent tokenomics.
Despite the bullish tokenomics, broader market weakness and a hawkish Federal Reserve meeting tempered the rally, leaving investors to monitor how the supply‑reduction plan influences the $ASTER price trajectory.