$35M ASTER Transfer Allegation Against Changpeng Zhao Debunked By Onchain Analysis

Changpeng Zhao has denied any involvement in a purported $35 million ASTER token transfer, a claim on-chain analysis have confirmed was based on manipulated screenshots.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao denied his involvement in a purported $35 million transfer of Aster (ASTER) tokens. In a recent post on X, CZ suggested that the allegation stemmed from a KOL who shared a screenshot that was digitally manipulated.

Blockchain analyst @ai_9684xtpa corroborated CZ’s statement, noting that the viral screenshot had manipulated past-week transactions between Binance hot wallets to create the appearance of a morning sale. The address in question, 0x889…2D4E3, is publicly verifiable as a Binance-controlled wallet.

Accusations of Changpeng Zhao engaging in suspicious token activity are nothing new. However, this instance was unique in that it involved fabricated images.

A similar situation arose with the TST memecoin, which initially launched to demonstrate how to launch such tokens but which quickly gained speculative traction.

On 30 May, TST price plummeted over 40% almost instantly after an anonymous whale sold $6–7 million worth of the token, representing over one-tenth of the coin’s total $55 million market cap. Some speculated that CZ was involved, despite there being no evidence linking him to the transaction.