After CZ publicly announced to "buy and hold" ASTER, two major Whales immediately shorted $71 million, and the market Bull vs Bear Battle intensified.

After CZ publicly revealed on social media that he had personally purchased and planned to “buy and hold” ASTER tokens, the market immediately showed severe divergence. Following this, two major crypto whales quickly acted, collectively opening short positions in ASTER worth up to $71 million through the decentralized perpetual futures exchange Hyperliquid. Despite the whales shorting, the price of ASTER surged 27% within 24 hours, and traders on major mainstream CEXs maintained a strong bullish sentiment.

CZ Endorsement Ignites the Market: Two Major Whales Open Huge Short Positions on ASTER

CZ's remarks had an immediate impact on market sentiment, but the subsequent counteractions from two major Whales plunged ASTER into a fierce tug-of-war between bullish and short positions.

• CZ personally endorses: CZ posted on X saying, “Full disclosure. I just bought some ASTER on a mainstream CEX with my own money today. I'm not a trader. I buy and hold.” This statement has reignited market attention on ASTER. Previously, the project team launched a token buyback plan, which has been interpreted by experts as a potential price rise catalyst.
• Whale 1: $49.17 million short positions: According to data from the on-chain tracking platform Lookonchain, the whale at address 0x9eec…1daab has opened short positions on Hyperliquid totaling up to $49.17 million, using 3x leverage, with a liquidation price of $2.09. This position has increased to approximately $52.8 million.
• Whale II: $18.45 million follow-up: Another whale (address 0xBADBB…3eE6) closely followed, depositing 3.8 million USDC and opening a short position of $18.45 million.
• Total short positions: The combined short positions of these two Whales amount to approximately $71.25 million, concentrated in the decentralized Perptual Futures market Hyperliquid.

27% rise and bullish frenzy: Mainstream CEX traders remain bullish

Despite the aggressive short positions taken by Whales in the derivatives market, spot and derivatives data show that retail investors and top traders remain bullish on AST.

• Price Surge: Influenced by CZ's disclosure, the ASTER Token rose by 27% within 24 hours. Previously, CZ's endorsement of the project had caused the ASTER price to skyrocket by 1500%.
• Derivatives trading volume and open interest surge: According to CoinGlass data, the derivatives trading volume of ASTER skyrocketed by 186%, reaching $3.04 billion; the open interest also rose by 70% to $781.86 million, confirming the increase in leveraged trading.
• Mainstream CEX is strongly bullish: On this mainstream CEX platform, the long-short ratio of ASTER reached 1.90, indicating that traders are generally bullish. Top traders have even more confidence, with their account ratio and position ratio reaching 1.83 and 2.08 respectively.
• Market Divergence: While whales are heavily shorting on Hyperliquid, traders on mainstream CEX still maintain a net bullish position, betting that the price of ASTER will continue to rise.

Conclusion

CZ's statement once again proves his tremendous influence on the cryptocurrency market, immediately igniting the price and trading volume of ASTER. However, the behavior of whales shorting on decentralized exchanges against the trend adds extreme uncertainty to the market, reflecting professional traders' high vigilance towards this rise driven by celebrity effect. The outcome of this $71 million long and short showdown will depend on whether ASTER can hold the bullish support and digest the massive short pressure. Investors should be wary of violent price fluctuations and sharp reversals triggered by short liquidations.

Disclaimer: This article is for news information only and does not constitute any investment advice. The cryptocurrency market is highly volatile, and investors should make decisions with caution.