Aster tightens tokenomics: 99% of fees go to buyback and burn — ASTER price surges 10%
On June 17, 2026, the decentralized exchange Aster announced a radical update to its tokenomics. From now on, 99% of all daily platform fees are automatically used to buy back $ASTER tokens from the market. These assets are distributed among veASTER holders, and an equivalent number of tokens are burned from the project's reserves until the total supply is reduced to a target of 3 billion.
The market reacted instantly to this news: the price of ASTER rose by more than 10%. This is unsurprising — the new model directly links the token's price to trading activity on the platform. The higher the volumes, the stronger the buying pressure and deflation.
Aggressive Mechanism: Buyback + Burn
The mechanism works as follows: 99% of fees are converted into $ASTER via a TWAP order within 24 hours and sent to a verifiable on-chain address (0xa0edBaBcb48034e368de286b49F9603C7AfA1b60). All purchased tokens enter the Loyalty Rewards pool, which supplements the base reward pool (300,000 $ASTER). Distribution is proportional to the veASTER lock weight.
The key element is "mirror" burning: each purchased token is offset by burning the same volume from reserves, primarily from team allocations. Burns occur every two weeks and will continue until the target supply of 3 billion tokens is reached.
An additional incentive comes from new listings on spot exchanges: a fee of 50,000 USDT per listing is also used to buy back $ASTER.
Current Supply Status
At launch, the total supply of ASTER was 8 billion. By June 17, 2026, this figure had dropped to ~7.82 billion, with approximately 2.68–2.7 billion tokens in circulation. Previous rounds of buybacks and burns have already removed tens of millions of tokens from the market, and the cumulative volume of fee-based buybacks has exceeded hundreds of millions of dollars.
The update increased the share of fees allocated to buybacks from the previous 70–80% to nearly 100%. This is a significant step in favor of token holders.
Market Context and Significance for Investors
Perpetual contract exchanges maintain high trading volumes amid the crypto market recovery. Aster has already processed billions of dollars in volume and competes with major players like Hyperliquid.
The "198%" mechanism (99% buyback + 99% equivalent burn) triggers a self-sustaining cycle: the more actively the platform is used, the higher the buying pressure and the faster the deflation. For investors, this enhances real staking yields and provides protection against long-term dilution.
The transparent on-chain implementation with verifiable wallets increases trust in the project — the DeFi sector often faces criticism due to opaque token economics.
The program runs continuously, with burns occurring every two weeks. Trading volumes will determine the speed of supply reduction and reward levels. Aster continues to launch new features — including potential developments at the level of its own blockchain network and expanded governance, which could further increase fee revenue.
Cryptalist Expert Opinion: This update is one of the most aggressive and well-thought-out deflationary mechanisms in the DeFi derivatives segment to date. The direct link between holder returns and platform activity creates a powerful incentive for long-term token retention. If Aster maintains or grows its trading volumes, $ASTER could become one of the most resilient assets in its niche.