Decentralized exchange (DEX) Aster has compensated its users who lost funds following an error that created a costly price error for the platform.
On September 25, the newly-launched Plasma (XPL) perpetual trading pair saw “abnormal price movements” resulting from a glitch.
The price of XPL on Astar surged to $4, whilst on other exchanges it was priced at around $1.3.
Abhishek Pawa, Web3 entrepreneur, speculated that the glitch was the result of an incorrectly configured index that was manually set by the Aster team.
> Aster’s XPL perp had the index hard-coded to $1.
> The mark price was capped at ~$1.22 off that broken index.
> They lifted the cap while the config was still wrong.
> Price on Aster spiked to ~$4 (wick) while other venues stayed near ~$1.3.
> Chart even stalled/stuck briefly… pic.twitter.com/Yn5LOforS4— Abhi | AP Collective (@0xAbhiP) September 25, 2025
The XPL listing came shortly after Plasma, a stablecoin-focused Layer-1, launched its mainnet.
And so, having hardcorded the index price at $1 and capped the price, a price jump occurred because it hadn’t synced with the live market upon the token’s launch.
Aster is yet to confirm the exact cause.
The perpetual DEX worked quickly to reimburse its traders. Aster has confirmed that all affected users have been repaid, though it didn’t disclose the amount.
It’s been a mixed bag of results for Aster’s ASTER token and Plasma’s XPL.
The ASTER token took a beating and initially dropped by around 14% from $2.03 to $1.74. It’s since recovered to $1.91.
Aster’s token launched just over a week ago and is already ranked 36th amongst the top 100 cryptos with a market cap of $3.18 billion.
Its post-airdrop success was bolstered by a shoutout from Binance founder and former boss, CZ, who has since apologized for the action.
Notably, Aster is backed by YZi Labs, a venture capital firm with ties to CZ.
Interestingly, XPL is trading up by almost 60% at $1.20 over the past 24 hours and has amassed a market cap of $2.17 billion, ranking it 49th amongst the top cryptocurrencies within less than a day of its launch.
Eddie is a gaming and crypto writer at CCN. Covering the often weird and wonderful world of Web3 with an adoring, but skeptical eye.
Prior to CCN, Eddie has spent the past seven years working his way through the crypto, finance, and technology industry. He began with PR and journalism with Bitcoin PR Buzz and BitcoinNews.com, eventually working his way to become a copywriter with a dozen firms, including the likes of Polkadot before returning to journalism in 2023.
Having studied Radio production and journalism at University in the UK, Eddie spent a few years making podcasts and presenting on a local London radio station as he built up his writing chops.
A lifelong skateboarder, Eddie can often be found at the skatepark or touring the streets looking for something new to try. That, or kicking back playing JRPGs on his original PSP.
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