Robinhood listing ASTER big pump 36%! XPL breaks 0.5 volume surges to 2 billion

Robinhood announced the launch of spot trading for Aster (ASTER) and Plasma (XPL). ASTER soared from a low of 1.36 USD, with a pump of 36%, becoming the second DEX Token on Robinhood after Uniswap. XPL briefly broke through 0.5 USD, with a 7-day volume reaching 2 billion USD.

Robinhood Launch Sparks ASTER and XPL Prices

(Source: Trading View)

Robinhood data shows that ASTER and XPL are currently trading on the exchange and available for spot trading for U.S. customers. The exchange has also just launched the native token of Virtuals Protocol, VIRTUAL, indicating that Robinhood is actively expanding its token offerings, particularly in DeFi and emerging project sectors.

After Robinhood went public, the prices of ASTER and XPL surged rapidly. TradingView data shows that ASTER skyrocketed from a low of over $1.3 during the session, reaching a high of $1.36, with an increase of 36%. This surge reflects the significant boost in token liquidity and exposure following Robinhood's launch. XPL briefly broke through $0.5 but then retreated; however, compared to the recent downward trend, this rebound is still of great significance.

As the price of Bitcoin fell below $110,000, XPL dropped below $0.5, while ASTER also experienced a pullback after rising to $1.36. However, this launch is good news for both tokens, as it has increased their visibility. Robinhood has over 23 million users, the vast majority of whom are retail investors in the United States, and the launch on this platform means that ASTER and XPL have gained significant potential buying interest.

ASTER has become the second decentralized exchange (DEX) token to go live on Robinhood after Uniswap (UNI). This milestone carries significant symbolic meaning, as Uniswap is one of the most successful projects in the DeFi space, and ASTER's ability to stand alongside it showcases Robinhood's recognition of the potential of Aster DEX. On the other hand, XPL, which just launched last month, is now listed on almost all top cryptocurrency exchanges, and Robinhood's addition further enhances its exchange coverage.

Perfect Timing After the ASTER Airdrop Crisis

It has been proven that the launch timing of these two tokens was very timely. ASTER encountered internal issues with the Aster airdrop distribution last week, and some early users reported that they did not receive the promised airdrop tokens, leading to dissatisfaction in the community. However, this issue has been rectified, and the team recalculated the distribution and reissued the tokens, ultimately completing the airdrop launch officially earlier this week.

Robinhood's decision to list ASTER immediately after resolving the airdrop dispute demonstrates confidence in the project and injects positive sentiment into the community affected by the airdrop issues. From the price trend, the market's confidence in ASTER is recovering, and Robinhood's listing has become an important catalyst.

Meanwhile, XPL initially surged when the Plasma mainnet beta went live, but faced significant selling pressure, dropping below 1 dollar, and has since continued to decline to new lows. This selling pressure mainly comes from early investors and airdrop recipients taking profits. XPL has fallen from a high of 1.2 dollars to around 0.3 dollars, a decline of over 75%, leading many investors to doubt its prospects.

Robinhood has provided an opportunity for XPL to rebound from its decline. Although XPL briefly broke above $0.5 before dropping again, this rebound indicates that market sentiment is improving compared to the previous continuous decline. More importantly, Robinhood's retail user base may provide new buying support for XPL.

DEX Volume and Fee Ranking Analysis

During the listing period on Robinhood, DefiLlama data shows that Aster DEX has performed variably in terms of DEX volume. The exchange's volume in the past 24 hours was $160 million, ranking it 18th among DEXs, behind leading projects such as Uniswap, Hyperliquid, and Pumpfun. The 24-hour trading volume is a key indicator of the immediate activity of DEXs, and ASTER still needs improvement in this regard.

However, the DEX's 7-day volume has reached $2 billion, surpassing Pump.fun and meme, but still lagging behind Hyperliquid and Uniswap, which have volumes of $3.4 billion and $50 billion respectively. The 7-day trading volume can better reflect the continuous activity level of the DEX, and ASTER's ability to surpass Pump.fun shows its strength beyond meme coin trading. Pump.fun is currently the hottest meme coin issuance platform, with its volume mainly coming from highly speculative short-term trading. The fact that ASTER can maintain a stable trading volume in this environment indicates that its user base is more diverse.

DEX volume ranking (7 days):

Uniswap: $50 billion (leading position)

Hyperliquid: $3.4 billion (derivatives DEX)

Aster: 2 billion USD (emerging DEX)

Pump.fun: Approximately 1.8 billion USD (meme coin platform)

At the same time, Aster's fee revenue once climbed to second place, second only to Tether, but its ranking has now declined. The decentralized exchange collected $2.2 million in fees over the past 24 hours, ranking 11th on the list. Fee revenue is a direct reflection of DEX profitability and a source of potential earnings for Token holders. The fact that ASTER was able to surge to second place in fee rankings in a short time indicates its strong profitability during peak periods, but the current drop to 11th place also reflects the intense competition.

At the same time, Uniswap and Hyperliquid rank second and sixth on the fee chart, with fees of 10 million USD and 3 million USD, respectively. Uniswap's fee revenue is 4.5 times that of ASTER, indicating its large trading scale and mature business model. Hyperliquid, as a DEX focused on perpetual contracts, also has significantly higher fee revenue than ASTER, highlighting the high-profit characteristics of derivatives trading.

ASTER needs to stand out in the competition by continuously improving its volume and user retention rate. The launch on Robinhood has brought exposure and new users, but long-term success depends on product experience, liquidity depth, and ecosystem development.

The Significance of XPL Dominating All Exchanges

XPL was quickly listed on almost all top cryptocurrency exchanges after its launch last month, and now with the addition of Robinhood, it has achieved full coverage across mainstream exchanges. This level of exchange support is extremely rare for new coins and is typically only afforded to top projects.

XPL is able to dominate all exchanges, reflecting the market's high recognition of the Plasma project. Plasma is a Layer 2 solution focused on high-performance blockchain, whose testnet has demonstrated extremely high throughput and low latency characteristics in performance testing. Exchanges are willing to provide support in the early stages of the project, showing their optimism about Plasma's technological potential and market prospects.

However, the dominance of all exchanges has not stopped the continuous decline of XPL prices. This reveals a harsh reality: the listing on exchanges only provides a liquidity platform, and the token price ultimately depends on the project's fundamentals and market supply and demand. The selling pressure faced by XPL mainly comes from early unlocks and airdrop distributions, and this supply shock is difficult to be absorbed by demand in the short term.

Robinhood's launch has provided a new narrative and potential buying pressure for XPL, but to truly reverse the downtrend, the Plasma project needs to demonstrate real-world applications and ecosystem growth.