Key takeaways
What is driving Aster’s sharp price decline?
Heavy selling by whales and futures traders led to severe downward pressure, resulting in a 16.83% drop in 24 hours.
What could determine Aster’s next step?
If retail traders successfully defend the $1 support level, Aster may bounce towards $1.39 and retest the $1.5 resistance level.
After facing rejection at $1.50, Aster [ASTER] It fell continuously for three days, reaching a low of $1.05. At press time, Aster was trading at $1.09, recording a 16.83% decline over the past 24 hours.
With Aster facing intense downward pressure, institutions and whales are selling aggressively.
Star Whales discard 17.857 million coins
As Aster approaches a key support level, whales are quickly exiting their long-term positions. EmberCN One whale reported depositing 9.575 million tokens worth $12.53 million to Binance, while another transferred 8.282 million tokens to Bybit.
Together, these two whales sold a total of 17.857 million Aster tokens worth $22.88 million.
This selling activity is not isolated. According to Nansen, Aster whales have collectively offloaded 62.61 million tokens in the past 24 hours, indicating a broader trend of widespread liquidation.
Source: Nansen
Often, when whales unload aggressively during a market downturn, it indicates a lack of market confidence. Historically, increased selling activity by large holders has preceded price declines, with mounting downward pressure.
Futures are getting more aggressive!
It is worth noting that selling pressure is not limited to the spot market, as futures are also closing positions aggressively.
According to CoinGlass, sellers have dominated the futures market over the past three days, closing positions worth $2.3 billion.
Source: Coinglass
On October 17, Aster Futures saw inflows of $1.09 billion compared to outflows of $1.24 billion. As a result, net futures flow fell by 132.12%, reaching a low of $153.99 million, a clear sign of strong futures selling.
When sellers dominate the futures market, it usually indicates risk-off sentiment, indicating that traders are anticipating further price declines.
Retailers are holding out
Interestingly, while whales and futures participants are unloading, small traders in the spot market are accumulating.
According to CoinGlass, Aster has recorded negative net inflow for five consecutive days. At the time of writing, net inflow had fallen to -$22.04 million, indicating higher outflows.
Source: Coinglass
Historically, declining currency inflows precede sustained upward pressure, which serves as a precursor to higher prices.
What’s next for altcoins?
According to AMBCrypto, the price of Aster fell sharply, driven by increasing selling pressure from whales and the futures market.
As a result, the altcoin’s Stochastic Relative Strength Index (RSI) has fallen to 8.72, as of the time of writing, reaching the oversold territory. Likewise, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) has fallen to 39, also approaching the oversold zone.
Source: Trading View
Often, when momentum indicators drop to these levels, it indicates seller dominance and the possibility of a continuation of the current trend.
Therefore, if sellers, especially whales, continue to sell, as we have seen recently, Aster could break the $1 support level to the downside. If this support is broken, Aster price could fall to $0.85.
However, if retail traders can defend and hold it, they can consolidate it to reclaim $1.39 and target resistance at $1.5.
