Aster jumps 35% after $2m investment from pardoned Binance founder CZ

Core Insights - Aster, a decentralized perpetuals exchange, experienced a significant price surge after Binance founder Changpeng Zhao announced his purchase of over $2 million in Aster tokens, leading to a price increase of more than 30% within an hour [1][2]. Company Developments - Aster is backed by YZi Labs, a family office managed by Zhao, who has previously leveraged his influence to promote Aster [2]. - The exchange has seen a boom in trading volume, processing over $70 billion in trades in the past week, surpassing competitor Hyperliquid [2]. Data Integrity Concerns - Aster's self-reported trading volume has faced scrutiny, with 0xngmi from DefiLlama questioning the validity of the figures, labeling them as "suspicious" [3]. - Despite the concerns, DefiLlama has relisted Aster's figures while developing a new method for verifying the exchange's trading volume [3]. Market Reactions - Following Zhao's pardon by US President Donald Trump, both Aster and Binance's BNB token saw price increases, with Aster rising to $1.07 and BNB surging over 5% to $1,123 [5].