CZ revealed via social media that he had purchased $2.5 million worth of Aster using his own funds. He emphasized that he is not a trader but a long-term holder, consistent with his past investment approach.
In a post on X, CZ shared a snapshot of his cryptocurrency wallet, showing his Aster holdings. “I am not a trader. I buy and hold,” he wrote, adding that the purchase was made on Binance using his personal money.
Shortly after the disclosure, the price of the Aster token jumped more than 30% from $0.91 to $1.26 after the post and later settled at about $1.22. The market value for the token also increased from $1.8 billion to over $2.5 billion, and its daily trading volume increased from $224 million to more than $2 billion.
CZ buys Aster with his own money and raises its prices
Following CZ’s move, traders immediately started buying the Aster token because they looked up to Zhao, and his comments instilled trust in the project. One trader on X, known as “Gold,” even said it was a big moment for the market because CZ had never bought a token outside of BNB by Binance before.
Gold wrote, “CZ, the most influential figure in crypto and creator of the largest platform in crypto, announced his purchase of ASTER with personal funds. That’s it. Don’t overthink it.”
However, it’s not the first time such news has affected a token’s price, as famous or trusted individuals can make comments that convince other traders to buy as well. Before CZ bought Aster, for example, Arthur Hayes said the price of Zcash could be very high in the future. His opinion made many people buy the token, and its price even increased by 30%.
Zhao did not expect so many people to buy Aster immediately after his post because he posted again and said, “damn, I was hoping to buy some more at low prices.”
Aster, a decentralized exchange protocol that focuses on cross-chain trading and liquidity solutions, has been gaining traction among decentralized finance (DeFi) users. However, the project’s fundamentals remain under scrutiny.
Big investors bet against Aster as Zhao’s connection to the token attracts attention
Some whales think the excitement behind the rise in Aster’s price will fade, so they acted quickly to profit if the price falls. Two of these whales borrowed tokens to sell and buy back later at a lower price if the cost drops, a strategy called shorting.
One of the whales built a short position worth $52.8 million and held almost 43 million Aster tokens, while the other created a $19.1 with a liquidation price near $2.
People also began asking questions about Zhao’s involvement in Aster following his significant announcement. It was later reported that the CZ’s family office, YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs), invested in Aster when it was Astherus before partnering with APX Finance in late 2024 to become Aster. Traders began to suggest that there was more to Zhao’s investment than met the eye.
A representative from BNB Chain said both BNB Chain and YZi Labs supported Aster. However, they did not say if CZ worked on the project himself or had influence over the decisions made.
Some traders believe Zhao stands to gain significantly more than what is being announced from this investment and has been aware of it for a long time, while others consider it a normal investment.
For now, Aster needs to demonstrate that it can grow independently and without Zhao’s support to maintain the trust of traders and investors.
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