I have seen many people follow the trend and buy ASTER just because a senior executive of a major exchange made a purchase, but now the entire market is bearish. Honestly, at the price of 0.66, probably no one dares to short it. Retail investors holding ASTER and those holding platform tokens of a major exchange are essentially the same—they're both betting on a price rally later, but since ASTER has a small market cap, it's theoretically easier for funds to manipulate it.

Here's the interesting part—so many retail investors want to accumulate spot at low prices, but who is actually dumping? The project team itself? But didn't they just announce a $28 million buyback?

The problem lies right here. How can a decentralized exchange with only a few hundred daily active users generate $28 million in real revenue? To be blunt, anyone with a clear head wouldn't believe that number. If it's true, then the biggest earners in the crypto space should be those top KOLs; by this logic, their annual income should be at least a hundred million.

This is how the crypto game works—storytelling is often more important than anything else. Instead of saying that $28 million is platform revenue, it's better to see it as a new round of financing. With capital backing and a compelling story, someone will take the bait. Even if the team has more members than users and the product is virtually useless, they can still make money by telling stories. Who profits and who loses depends on who is the last to take over.