thedefiant.io
Aster, the decentralized exchange (DEX) on BNB Smart Chain (BSC), is surging today after announcing its new incentives campaign dubbed “Rocket Launch.”
Rocket Launch will be a series of campaigns with reward pools filled with $ASTER tokens and participating project tokens. Participants will earn rewards based on their trading volumes for specific spot or perp trading pairs. To be eligible, participants must also hold a minimum undisclosed amount of $ASTER tokens.
$ASTER is up 8% since the announcement, and up 12% over the last 24 hours, driven by the market’s rebound today and potentially the new $ASTER-aligned incentives program. Despite the bounce, the token is still down 16% over the last week, and 55% from its all-time high set in September.
According to the DEX's blog post, Rocket Launch is meant to “transform token launches from one-time market events into a continuous journey — from alpha discovery to trading activation and sustained growth”.
The positive price action may also be fueled by renewed optimism surrounding the BSC ecosystem, as Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao received an official presidential pardon from the United States today. Zhao pleaded guilty to money laundering-related charges almost two years ago and served a four-month prison stint in 2024.