On June 17, the Aster team announced a new tokenomics model. It will use 99% of the protocol’s daily platform fees for automated buybacks of the ASTER token, and will link the amount of each buyback to the same quantity of tokens being burned from the protocol treasury. Aster calls it a “198% buyback burn ratio.” After the announcement, the ASTER token rose by about 17% within a few hours, to around $0.77.
Aster New Token Model: 99% Fees Auto Buyback, 198% Burn Ratio
(Source: Aster official documentation)
According to Aster’s official announcement, the core mechanisms of the new token model are as follows: 99% of daily platform fees will be automatically used to buy back ASTER tokens via a daily TWAP transaction; all repurchased ASTER tokens will be allocated as royalty incentives to veASTER stakers; an additional 300,000 ASTER basic incentive tokens will be issued for each cycle; the same amount of ASTER will be burned synchronously from the protocol treasury (the team’s allocated share is burned first); the burn cycle lasts for two weeks, continuing until the total token supply drops to 3 billion tokens.
In addition, on Aster’s spot trading platform, the listing fees for all permissionless tokens will be adjusted to 50,000 USDT. The revenue will be used for token buybacks, settled weekly, and converted into staking rewards about two weeks later.
Target Burn: 5 Billion Tokens — Cumulative Buybacks of 266 Million Since TGE
Per Aster’s plan, the protocol’s final goal is to burn about 5 billion tokens. Currently, the total token supply is about 7.82 billion, with a hard cap of 8 billion. The time required to burn more than 5 billion tokens depends largely on the future trading activity of DEX platforms.
Since TGE, Aster has completed six buybacks, accumulating over 266 million tokens repurchased, worth about $187 million.
Market Reaction to Historical Buybacks Compared: Tokens Still Falling After the October 2025 Burn Announcement
According to Cryptopolitan’s historical report, in October 2025, Aster announced it would burn half of the buyback tokens, but the price fell by 2.8%. After that, it completed the third phase plan and burned 77.86 million tokens (valued at nearly $80 million), but the token price still fell by 2.7% within the following 24 hours.
During the same period, Chainlink’s buyback plan coincided with a 35% stock price rise, creating a contrast that weakened the single inference that “buybacks necessarily push up the price.” On X in February 2026, Aster CEO Leonard confirmed that token issuance and buybacks are proceeding according to the announced roadmap, and once staking is fully live, the monthly token unlock plan will be paused.
FAQ
How is Aster’s “198% buyback burn ratio” calculated?
According to Aster’s official announcement, for each ASTER token buyback conducted via platform fees (99%), an equal amount of tokens is also burned from the protocol treasury. That is: 1 repurchased ASTER corresponds to 1 treasury token burned, so the total effect is that the circulating ASTER in the market is reduced by twice the amount per buyback operation. Therefore, Aster refers to it as a 198% buyback burn ratio.
Why didn’t the earlier Aster burn announcements boost the token price?
According to Cryptopolitan’s historical report, the burn announcement in October 2025 (burning half of the buyback tokens) and the third phase plan (burning 77.86 million tokens) both failed to push the token up within 24 hours; instead, both saw declines. Aster CEO Leonard’s explanation is that token issuance and buybacks are carried out according to the roadmap, and the market reaction lags. The difference in this new model is that it shifts from a one-time announcement to a continuous automated rule-based mechanism, emphasizing predictability.
How long will it take to reach the goal of burning 5 billion tokens?
According to Aster’s description, the time needed to burn more than 5 billion tokens is “to a large extent dependent on the future activity level of the DEX platform,” and no specific timeline is provided. Currently, the total token supply is about 7.82 billion, with the goal of reducing it to 3 billion. A two-week period constitutes one burn cycle. Aster acknowledged that burn progress depends on sustained growth in platform trading volume.
