Pepe Whale's Shift to Aster Fuels 9% Surge Amid Broader Market Slump

A prominent cryptocurrency whale, identified as "ThisWillMakeYouLoveAgain," who previously realized a $36.21 million profit from Pepe Coin (PEPE), has redirected investments to the altcoin Aster (ASTER), triggering a 9% price surge for ASTER in the last 24 hours. According to on-chain data from Lookonchain, the whale invested $8.14 million in ASTER tokens between November 4 and November 12, acquiring 8.41 million tokens at an average price of $0.97, with an unrealized profit of $1.1 million already recorded.

Concurrently, Pepe Coin's price declined around 2% to $0.000005956, accompanied by a 34% drop in trading volume to $268.65 million. This occurred amid a broader market downturn, with the global crypto market capitalization falling 1% to $3.51 trillion and the meme coin segment slumping over 1.2% to $50.82 billion.

The ASTER rally was further bolstered by former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), who disclosed a $2 million purchase of the token, leading to a temporary 30% price spike to $1.20 before a correction to $1.14. ASTER's trading volume surged 43% to $807.5 million, and the token has gained 13% over the past week, despite a 25% monthly decline. Aster DEX, launched on September 17, 2025, has attracted attention with its buyback program, which plans to use 70-80% of Season 3 trading fees for token repurchases.

Analyst Obi_eths drew parallels between PEPE's current price action and its pre-rally phase in February 2024, suggesting potential for a recovery, though market volatility has prompted caution among traders.