#数字资产市场动态 I haven't followed $ASTER's candlestick charts for a while. I just took a quick look at the market, and it's still the same. I haven't moved any of my coins, and my view remains the same—continue to be bullish. Recently, I'm tight on funds and can't add positions in the short term; I probably won't have the chance until next year. Speaking of which, the recent popularity of this coin has indeed decreased quite a bit, but I think this is just a phase. Once you're on the train, you need to be patient.

Lately, I've been paying attention to this project and noticed a few noteworthy developments:

**Perpetual Contract Sentiment Is Changing**
Aster's long-short ratio has gradually returned to a more rational 4:6 from the previous 7:3, with shorts slightly leading. This indicates that the market is re-evaluating the price, perhaps brewing something.

**Upgrading from Application Protocol to Public Chain Is a Major Event**
Aster L1 public chain's testnet is live, and this isn't a minor iteration—it's a leap from the protocol layer to the infrastructure layer, demonstrating the project's ambition and technical reserves.

**Phase 5 Buyback Program Officially Launched**
Starting December 23, the platform will use up to 80% of daily fees to buy back $ASTER—40% of which is automatically executed on-chain, and 20%-40% goes into strategic reserves. The entire process is transparent on-chain, continuously reducing circulating supply, supporting the price, and boosting market expectations.

**"Crystal" Airdrop Arrives, 1.2% of Total Supply in Aster**
Totaling about 96 million tokens, divided into two parts: 0.6% can be claimed immediately, and the other 0.6% is locked for 3 months before release. Interestingly, if you choose to claim early, that portion is burned—using a burn mechanism to incentivize long-term holding and accelerate deflation.

**$12 Million Contract Trading Incentive, Six Consecutive Periods**
Each period's prize pool is up to 2 million USDF, unlocked based on perpetual contract trading volume. This incentive runs alongside the airdrop, linking trading activity with token holding, showing the official's intent to energize the derivatives ecosystem.

**Shield Mode Launches, Upgrading Trading Privacy and Efficiency**
This is a new on-chain mode to protect trading privacy, reducing order book exposure, supporting up to 1001x leverage. For the Perp DEX sector, privacy and execution efficiency are key competitive points, and this feature enhances Aster's differentiated toolset.

**Trading Competition Concludes**
70 human traders and AI strategies competed, boosting copy trading activity and attracting new users, further strengthening community engagement.

**These actions form a positive cycle**
Space 5 airdrop, contract incentives, buybacks, and burns—fees generated from trading are used to buy back tokens, which are then burned or added to reserves. Circulating supply shrinks, and token expectations are being rebuilt. From a market narrative perspective, this combination packs a significant punch.

**Final thoughts**
What I’ve observed are the recent actual movements and official activities of Aster. The more exciting part is still ahead—the mainnet launch in Q1 2026. If everything proceeds as planned, I believe Aster's token will undergo a revaluation. The official goal is to become the ultimate Perp DEX, but whether they can achieve this depends on time and execution.

These are just personal opinions for reference and should not be taken as investment advice.