The decentralized platform Aster appears to be one of the success stories of the cryptocurrency ecosystem at the end of this year. However, its popularity has just come up against the requirements of data aggregator DefiLlama, amid suspicions of wash trading. We take stock of the situation.
DefiLlama delists Aster’s perpetual data
Since its simple mention on the X network by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, the decentralized exchange (DEX) specializing in perpetual contracts, Aster, has been enjoying success after success. This popularity has recently enabled it to establish itself at the top of the sector with record volumes, but is it really deserved?
This is a troubling question recently posed by the founder of DefiLlama—the go-to platform for aggregating decentralized finance (DeFi) data—on the X network. And with good reason, as the dashboard supposed to display the volumes of its perpetual market has just been suspended outright.
According to statements by DefiLlama founder 0xngmi, his teams recently conducted an investigation into a “huge increase in volume” of perpetual contracts on the Aster platform over the last few days. This is a commendable move to ensure the reliability of the data published on its site.
The problem? The data collected quickly revealed a strange correlation between Aster’s volumes and those of the perpetual contracts on the Binance cryptocurrency exchange platform. This relationship is all the more intriguing given that this DEX has often been associated with the leading exchange as an extension of its ecosystem, with obvious strategic support.
The graph on the left shows XRPUSDT on Aster, where you can see that the volume ratio compared to Binance is around 1. The graph on the right shows the volume of XRP perpetual contracts on Hyperliquid, where there is some decorrelation.
0xngmi
Suspension pending verifiable data
Clearly, DefiLlama’s decision has not won the support of all crypto investors. And for good reason, as it triggered a significant drop in the price of the ASTER token of almost 10% yesterday.
This situation appears to be resolving itself at the time of writing, with the price already back at the $2 level.
In this tense context, the founder of DefiLlama has once again attempted to clarify matters on the X network, in particular to justify the official announcement of this procedure, but also to silence the accusations of corruption made against him. The aim is to take the time to verify suspicions of “wash trading.”
Aster does not allow access to lower-level data, such as who is placing and executing orders. Until we can access this information to verify whether wash trading is taking place, Aster’s perpetual volumes will remain delisted.
0xngmi
In order to silence the most vocal critics, 0xngmi is quick to point out that the DefiLlama platform has “already delisted Lighter and several other perpetual DEXs for blatant wash trading.” The cards are now in Aster’s hands.
