ASTER’s price collapsed over 30% within 24 hours of CZ’s post, slipping below key technical support levels as bearish traders tighten control.
On-chain whale trader named by the crypto community “Anti-CZ” has amassed more than $21 million in unrealized profit from shorting ASTER, according to a Tuesday report from market tracker Lookonchain. The decentralized exchange (DEX) token surged after Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) publicly revealed he had purchased it 48 hours ago.
The pseudonymous trader, identified by the address 0x9eec, placed a massive short position on ASTER through the decentralized derivatives exchange Hyperliquid. The bet came just minutes after CZ posted about buying roughly 2 million ASTER tokens on Sunday, which caused the DEX token’s price to climb by about 20%.
Lookonchain first flagged the trades after CZ made his announcement, noting that the whale held ASTER tokens worth $52.8 million at the time, at a liquidation price near $2.091. The trader reportedly operates two separate wallets, both with active leveraged shorts on ASTER, DOGE, ETH, XRP, and kPEPE, according to Hyperliquid’s dashboard data reviewed by Cryptopolitan.
The two wallets now show over $21 million in profit combined from ASTER alone, and nearly $100 million in total unrealized gains in all open positions.
Over $36M in ASTER shorts, profits top $15.8M
According to Hyperscan updates, the first wallet holds a $36.07 million short position against ASTER at 3x leverage, opened at an average entry price of $1.2083. With the current market price sliding to $0.8371, the position is up $15.84 million, a 131.7% profit.
A second, smaller ASTER short sits in another wallet, showing a $12.84 million position at an average entry of $1.1625, with $4.95 million in unrealized profit, or 115.7% ROI. The liquidation level for this trade is $2.2324, again well above current prices, which means the whale is looking at minimal liquidation risk unless the token goes on an unforeseen spike.
The whale’s Hyperliquid portfolio also shows massive profits on other meme coins and altcoin shorts. His DOGE short leverage bets are worth $25.2 million, executed at 5x leverage with an entry price of $0.2075, now up over $7 million, as the price trades near $0.1618.
Similarly, a $11.8 million short on kPEPE at 5x leverage has returned over $5.09 million, or a 215.7% unrealized gain, with liquidation sitting far above at $0.0353.
CZ’s post causes price surge, ASTER tanks post hype
As reported by Cryptopolitan late Sunday, ASTER’s volatility began after CZ’s endorsement on X, announcing he had purchased 2 million tokens. The post caused traders to pile in and add to their bullish positions, pushing the token to a peak of $1.30.
When the hype and chatter on social media cooled down, ASTER dropped nearly 30% within a day, erasing the entire “CZ pump” and sliding back into bearish territory below $1.
“Hyperliquid fans have been bashing CZ for shilling Aster right on X,” one community member said, noting how quickly the rally turned to losses. “If you jumped on $ASTER the second CZ shilled it, congrats, you’re officially in the red. This ain’t shade at anyone.”
On the daily chart, ASTER slipped below the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement level at $0.94, a threshold that could provide signals if a correction might deepen into a full reversal.
“The focus isn’t on chasing upside for now, because bulls are fighting to preserve structure,” said crypto trader Ardi Altcoin in a Telegram update. “Dropping down below $0.85-$0.90 would hand control entirely to bears and change the short-term trend to decisively bearish.”
ASTER bulls would need to reclaim the 61.8% Fibonacci level at $1.01 to map a road back above to levels higher than $1.3 again, Ardi added.
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