Binance, CZ-linked Hyperliquid competitor Aster hits $2B TVL before sharp drop

After Changpeng Zhao congratulated it on X, community members speculated that the Binance co-founder may be behind the Aster project.

BNB Chain-based decentralized perpetuals exchange Aster briefly crossed $2 billion in total value locked (TVL) on Thursday after launching its native token, before falling back sharply, according to DefiLlama data.

The surge that followed the project’s Aster (APX) token launch proved to be short-lived, as it ended the day at $545 million TVL. At the time of writing on Friday, the exchange’s TVL had rebounded to $655 million, still nearly double its usual range of $300 million–$400 million before the token debut.

Community speculates on Binance founder’s involvement in Aster

Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao congratulated Aster on X, writing “keep building.” The comment sparked speculation that Zhao may be behind the project, with some users pointing to changes in his profile and suggesting Aster was launched in response to Hyperliquid’s growth.

One community member said that Zhao may have realized the business is at risk, and launched Aster in response.

Another X user took the speculation further, saying Zhao was “obviously pissed about hyperliquid” and said that he is “back in charge” after removing the ex-Binance tag on his profile.