In an interview with Mable, founder of social protocol Trends, Aster CEO Leonard responded to criticisms that “96% of ASTER tokens are held by a small number of addresses” seen in on-chain data.
Leonard maintained that the team doesn’t control these wallets. The CEO noted that, according to token economics, approximately 80% of the ASTER supply is locked and traceable on-chain, and that airdrop addresses account for approximately 40% of the total supply. Other major addresses include spot deposits made by users on exchanges. According to Leonard, some investors are holding their tokens in platform wallets, ready for sale, anticipating price increases.
Leonard explained that the current circulating supply is only 10%, including a 1:1 conversion share from existing users (10%) and the initial airdrop distribution (8%). He explained that the remaining tokens are being released gradually as announced in the documentation and can be verified on-chain. He explained that the concentration of contract addresses creates the perception that “the team controls all the tokens,” but in reality, the majority of these tokens belong to users.
Leonard noted that YZi Labs is Aster’s sole private investor and has provided significant support to the team despite its small stake. The CEO stated that the company has no intention of liquidating the funds, saying, “Our performance in the BNB ecosystem since the tokenization event has proven the value of our project. Even without mandatory unlocks, YZi Labs has no incentive to sell. Furthermore, the amount of tokens they can receive is limited to a small portion of the 5% team distribution share, as their investment was not direct tokens, but rather an equity investment in the company.”
*This is not investment advice.