Recently, while organizing my transaction records, I unexpectedly discovered that there are over 5,000 Aster tokens sleeping in my account. They were only available for claiming on the 15th. I initially didn’t pay much attention since the amount wasn’t large, until I actually counted them and felt a bit surprised. This experience made me want to delve into two core perspectives on token investment.

**High-Inflation Tokens, HODLing Equals Paving the Way for Others**

Aster is a typical high-inflation token. Inflation, in essence, means the circulating supply is constantly expanding—new tokens are produced, early lock-ups are unlocked, mining rewards are released—all of which accelerate the growth of the circulating volume. Regarding Aster’s mining mechanism, transaction users contribute fees in exchange for token rewards. This seems like an incentive, but in reality, it creates continuous selling pressure. I haven’t done precise calculations, but based on experience, the cost of releasing these rewards is far below $2000—meaning we are effectively buying an asset that is being constantly diluted at a discount.

From a price perspective, this is the main driver behind Aster’s decline. "Miners" have a strong motivation to mine-accumulate-sell, and this cycle naturally puts downward pressure on the price. This isn’t an isolated case—other high-inflation tokens face the same dilemma. Besides the natural inflation of PoS chains, project teams unlocking tokens in batches is an invisible killer.

**Beware of Bull Market Traps: Circulating Market Cap Continually Diluted**

The long-term harm of such tokens to retail investors cannot be underestimated. The number of tokens you hold may not change, but their proportion in the total circulating market cap is gradually being diluted. Even if the project’s valuation remains unchanged, the token price will fall—that’s why projects with "low circulating supply but high FDV" during a bull market are so risky. You think you’re accumulating good assets, but in reality, you’re slowly devaluing them.

A clear comparison: Bitcoin’s annual inflation rate is about 0.8%, and Ethereum’s inflation rate is also kept at a reasonable level. That’s why these assets can serve as long-term stores of value. When choosing tokens, it’s not just about the project’s prospects; you also need to carefully consider the inflation ledger.