Aster CEO Leonard has addressed recent market concerns, dismissing allegations of sell-offs and liquidity exits as "completely false" and "malicious manipulation." Leonard clarified that CZ is merely an advisor and that investor Yzi Labs' funds are locked long-term. Aster operates independently, with no direct control by CZ or Binance. The project has upgraded its buyback mechanism, implementing daily automatic buybacks funded by protocol revenue, with 254 million tokens repurchased and 78 million burned. Looking ahead, Aster plans to expand asset liquidity, launch a privacy-first Layer 1 network in March, and introduce a staking function. The token economic model will see the final airdrop with S6, a suspension of the monthly 1% unlock until staking is live, and continued buybacks using up to 80% of fees during S6.