Crypto Expert Reveals 7 Signs ASTER May Be Following a Criminal Ponzi Scheme

Jakarta, Pintu News – Aster (ASTER), a decentralized exchange for perpetual trading, is in the spotlight thanks to a surge in trading volume and rapid price growth.

Currently, Aster has even managed to take the top spot as the most discussed coin on CoinGecko. However, behind this rapid rise, Aster has also been criticized. One expert accused the project of following a pattern similar to a “criminal ponzi scheme.”

Is Aster (ASTER) Crypto a Scam?

The ASTER token just held its Token Generation Event (TGE) this month and managed to attract attention, including from Binance founder Changpeng Zhao. Since its launch, the token has performed exceptionally well with its price rising to a record high of $2.41 yesterday.

Read also: Whale Crypto Bought $270 Million Worth of ASTER, CEO Unveils Ambitious Plans!

Aster’s platform also made it into the top sixdecentralized exchanges by trading volume, surpassing even Hyperliquid.

However, despite the rapid growth, not everyone believes in Aster’s long-term potential. In a lengthy post on X (formerly Twitter), Simon Dedic-founder of Mooonrock Capital-revealed a number of reasons that made him doubt the project.

“ASTER is following the pattern of a criminal ponzi scheme perfectly,” Dedic wrote.

In his analysis, Dedic outlines seven key steps that he says reflect the tactics of a Ponzi scheme.

Reasons 1 to 4

According to Dedic, the first reason is that the product is not innovative. He mentioned that Aster is not something new, but just a copy of another decentralized exchange model that has already proven successful in the market.

Second, token distribution to KOLs and insiders. Dedic alleges that Aster distributes most of the token supply to Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) and insider groups to create hype and stimulate artificial buying pressure.

Third, volume manipulation through wash trading. Since the core product was deemed to lack uniqueness, according to Dedic, Aster relied on aggressive wash trading practices to give the impression that the platform was more crowded than it actually was.

Furthermore, full control over the token supply. The project team is called to launch tokens while maintaining most of its supply.

“Once public attention is gained, proceed to TGE. Launch the token while keeping the majority of supply, so you can control selling pressure. Drive the token price with a coordinated market maker strategy with an internal group that has been involved since the beginning,” Dedic added.

Despite Aster’s significant numerical achievements, critical analysis such as this highlights the importance of caution in assessing up-and-coming crypto projects.

Points 5 to 7

The fifth point in Simon Dedic’s analysis highlights how Aster utilizes price momentum to build a narrative and drive further price increases. According to him, this tactic is common in the crypto world – where constantly rising price charts are used to create a sense of legitimacy.

Read also: How High Could XRP Climb If an ETF Gets the Green Light?

Sixth, Dedic warns that all the hype will reach a saturation point. He questions the sustainability of this kind of project.

“Every ponzi scheme has a limit. Eventually, the hype peaks, interest starts to decline, and the big question arises: what’s next?” says Dedic.

Seventh, the launch of its own Layer-1 blockchain. As a final step, Dedic predicts that Aster will likely launch its own Layer-1 blockchain to maintain market interest.

According to him, this step is actually unnecessary, but effective enough to prolong the hype cycle.

Whale Still Believes in ASTER Crypto

Joshua Tobkin, Co-founder and CEO of Supra, supports this skeptical view. He states that Aster operates more like acentralized exchange (CEX) than a decentralized platform. This criticism challenges Aster’s main claim of being a DeFi project.

“Aster is not even a blockchain. At least in HyperLiquid, there’s transparency in the matching engine, so users know the app is running according to the rules. Aster literally looks like CEX,” Tobkin said.

Despite various allegations and criticisms,whales still seem to believe in ASTER. According to reports from Lookonchain, an investor with wallet address 0xFB3B withdrew 50 million ASTER tokens worth $114.5 million from the Gate.io exchange in the past two days.

The blockchain analytics firm also revealed that as many as 15 wallets – strongly suspected to be controlled by a single whale – had withdrawn a total of 68.25 million ASTER tokens worth approximately $156.3 million from the exchange just four days ago.

“Two whales recently accumulated 118.25 million ASTER (worth $270.8 million), equivalent to 7.13% of the total circulating supply,” the report reads.

Read also: Trader James Wynn Predicts Hyperliquid’s Slow Demise Following ASTER’s Massive Crypto Rally

In addition, another whale identified by wallet address 0x5bd4 withdrew 1.56 million ASTER (approximately $3.57 million) from Bybit. Now, the wallet holds a total of 8.28 million ASTER, worth approximately $16.98 million.

Overall, with more and more criticism emerging, the whales remain undaunted. This difference in attitude shows a clear contrast between skeptics who see various warning signs, and deep-pocketed investors who appear confident – or perhaps opportunistic – in betting that market momentum will outweigh concerns, at least for now.

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*Disclaimer

This content aims to enrich readers’ information. Pintu collects this information from various relevant sources and is not influenced by outside parties. Note that an asset’s past performance does not determine its projected future performance. Crypto trading activities have high risk and volatility, always do your own research and use cold cash before investing. All activities of buying and selling bitcoin and other crypto asset investments are the responsibility of the reader.

Reference:

• BeInCrypto. Aster Token Rally Sparks Ponzi Criticism as Whale Buys. Accessed on September 26, 2025