Decentralized perpetuals exchange Aster saw its native token $ASTER jump over 10% to 80 cents on Wednesday, hitting its highest level since January. The spike came after the protocol announced a new initiative committing 99% of daily platform fees to an automated buyback program. Think of it as using your firm’s revenue to buy back shares in your own company.
Under the plan, all tokens purchased through this mechanism are distributed as rewards to veASTER holders. veASTER is a non-transferable governance token obtained by locking $ASTER, which gives holders access to fee revenue, voting power, and trading discounts on the Aster DEX.
How the burn works
Every buyback also triggers an equal burn from the protocol’s reserve, further reducing supply. These bi-weekly burns will continue until total supply reaches 3 billion tokens. Currently, $ASTER’s total supply stands at 7.82 billion tokens. The upgrade marks a shift from the previous linear vesting model, which auto-released tokens to market regardless of demand. That model ended in January 2026.
“Aster’s tokenomics upgrade puts the platform’s own activity to work,” the protocol noted. It emphasized that the new rewards are settled on-chain with “no discretionary reserve.”
Market headwinds
But the bullish price action was short-lived. The Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance sent the dollar higher and weighed on risk assets, including cryptocurrencies. As of writing, $ASTER traded near 68 cents, down 5% on the day. The broader market weakness erased what could have been a more sustained rally, leaving traders questioning whether the tokenomics shift is enough to attract long-term demand.
