- Aster quickly repaid users after the XPL glitch, boosting confidence as trading volumes and new sign-ups climbed to record levels.
- Even with millions lost in liquidations, Aster’s value soared past $15B while its trading activity outpaced every rival exchange.
- Plasma’s strong launch and Aster’s hidden orders tool helped the exchange attract hundreds of thousands of new traders in a single day.
Aster moved quickly to protect its users after abnormal price action rocked its XPL perpetual contract late Thursday evening. The decentralized perpetuals exchange, backed by YZi Labs and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, confirmed that it fully reimbursed liquidated traders in USDT.
The glitch saw XPL’s price surge past $4 while other platforms held steady near $1.30. Within an hour, Aster resolved the incident and began compensating affected users, completing the first round of reimbursements within three hours.
The exchange reassured its growing community through a post on X, stating “all funds are SAFU.” It also pledged a full investigation into the event. Compensation included not only liquidation losses but also trading and fee refunds. Although Aster has not disclosed the total reimbursement amount, traders estimated the damages ran into millions.
What Triggered the Price Disruption
Community members speculated that internal oversights during the transition from pre-launch to live trading triggered the disruption. Some suggested Aster had previously hardcoded XPL’s index price at $1 and capped the mark price for testing. Once those limits were removed without syncing to live markets, the sudden spike forced liquidations. However, Aster has yet to confirm the exact cause.
The incident occurred just hours after the mainnet debut of Plasma, a stablecoin-focused Layer 1 blockchain. Plasma launched with over $2 billion in stablecoin liquidity, placing it among the top 10 chains in that segment. Its native token, XPL, quickly reached a fully diluted valuation exceeding $12 billion.
Growth Despite Setback
Despite the disruption, Aster’s momentum remains undeniable. Since launching its ASTER token on September 17, the platform’s valuation soared from $560 million to over $15 billion. Moreover, Aster has overtaken rival Hyperliquid in daily perpetuals trading volumes. On Thursday alone, it processed $35.87 billion, more than triple Hyperliquid’s $10.09 billion.
Perpetual trading volumes across decentralized exchanges also hit $70 billion, with Aster contributing over half of that activity. Incentive farming campaigns and its “hidden orders” feature have fueled user growth, helping the exchange add nearly 468,000 new accounts in 24 hours.
Aster’s swift reimbursement highlights trust-building in DeFi, while its explosive growth shows how fast perp DEXs are reshaping trading.
