Aster denies dumping allegations, CZ involvement; plans March mainnet launch

Decentralized exchange (DEX) ASTER has refuted rumors surrounding the project and its team as baseless. In a post on X, ASTER CEO Leonard stated that the rumors currently circulating are malicious attempts to manipulate public opinion. He acknowledged holder disappointment following ASTER's recent price decline but clarified that claims of team token dumping and control by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao are untrue. Leonard explained that while Zhao serves as an advisor and Easy Labs (formerly Binance Labs) is an investor, ASTER operates as an independent project. He added that the token buyback program is proceeding transparently as announced, with 254 million ASTER repurchased to date. Of this amount, 78 million tokens have been burned and another 78 million have been re-locked. The company intends to take strong action against the future spread of false information. Looking ahead, Leonard announced plans to launch a proprietary Layer 1 mainnet in March, followed by a new user interface. The project will also conclude its airdrops after Season 6 and allocate 80% of fees generated during that period to buybacks. Furthermore, in response to community concerns, the scheduled monthly unlock of 1% of the token supply will be temporarily suspended.