Dubai forum spotlights aster wlfi partnership as Aster ramps up trading incentives and buybacks

Attendees at a private Dubai event heard fresh details about the aster wlfi partnership, underscoring how both teams aim to grow stablecoin usage and on-chain trading activity.

Aster and WLFI team up to boost USD1 stablecoin

The founder and chief executive of decentralized perpetual exchange Aster, Leonard, confirmed on Tuesday that his platform is collaborating with World Liberty Financial (WLFI) to expand adoption of the latter’s stablecoin product USD1. The announcement adds a new player to the increasingly competitive dollar-pegged token market.

The agreement between the two entities was revealed at a closed conference held on Tuesday in Dubai, where Aster, Opinion, and World Liberty Financial convened a private gathering. According to organizers, 176 attendees were present, including traders, protocol founders, researchers, and digital asset ecosystem builders.

The meeting began at noon local time with arrivals and registration, followed by opening remarks and a mixer session lasting more than three hours. Moreover, the format allowed community members to question project representatives directly about strategy and product roadmaps.

A community member who attended the mixer later posted on X that Aster and WLFI representatives outlined their plans during the discussion period. Leonard then confirmed the news in a post on his official X account, removing any doubt about the collaboration’s scope.

“Word travels fast in this space. Had an amazing time with World Liberty Financial and everyone who joined us in Dubai. We are exploring ways to expand USD1 adoption together. Stay tuned,” Leonard wrote, signaling that concrete integration details may follow soon.

Binance Blockchain Week appearance and DeFi events

Leonard is also set to represent Aster at the 2-day Binance Blockchain Week event, held at the Coca-Cola Arena on December 3–4. In a promotional post on Tuesday, the exchange invited attendees to visit its booth and participate in scheduled activities around the main conference.

“We are at Binance Blockchain Week. Find us at booth P4 or join us at the events below, and we would love to connect in person,” the company posted. However, the team has not yet disclosed whether WLFI representatives will share stage time with Aster during the gathering.

Aster’s schedule during the crypto forum includes a main-stage segment titled “Perp DEXs and the Freedom to Trade,” a StableFi networking dinner, and a DeFi-focused forum after BBW titled “New Era of DeFi: From Stablecoin to Autonomous Neo Banking” on December 5. These appearances aim to position Aster at the center of discussions around decentralized derivatives and stablecoin infrastructure.

Leonard is also slated to join Crypto Banter for a fireside chat on Wednesday, where he will discuss how perpetual decentralized exchanges have changed market access for traders and institutions. That said, the broader narrative will likely touch on regulatory headwinds facing derivatives protocols worldwide.

Aster stage 4 buyback and trading competition

In parallel with the Dubai events, Aster began its fourth round of token buybacks at 01:10 UTC today. The program is being conducted through wallet address 0x573ca9FF6b7f164dfF513077850d5CD796006fF4. This stage 4 buyback coincides with a multi-week trading competition that launched on November 17 and runs through December 21.

The campaign features five phases of seven days each, mirroring the schedule for Aster’s Harvest: Stage 4 initiative. Moreover, each weekly phase carries a prize pool of up to $2 million denominated in Aster’s ecosystem asset USDF, providing sizeable incentives for active on-chain traders.

For the Double Harvest Phase 3 period, running from December 1–7, Aster has tightened requirements to keep rewards tied to meaningful risk and real activity. Participants must satisfy additional minimum position sizes beyond the existing Phase 2 rules, which already focused on perpetual derivatives flow.

The platform stated that all users who place at least one daily order of the required size and record at least $100,000 in daily perpetual trading volume for six days between December 1 and December 7 will qualify to share the Week 3 prize pool equally. However, users who fail to meet the six-day threshold will not be eligible, regardless of total cumulative volume.

Aster listed several asset categories with associated minimum trade sizes, including $50,000 for BTC and $30,000 for ASTER, ETH, BNB, and HYPE. Other listed assets require $10,000, although trades executed outside the Aster platform do not count toward the competition, emphasizing in-ecosystem liquidity.

Scrutiny over WLFI and Alt5 Sigma relationship

While the aster wlfi partnership has drawn attention in Dubai, Trump-linked WLFI is also under scrutiny for its financial ties to public crypto company Alt5 Sigma. The latter reportedly delayed quarterly filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, raising governance and disclosure questions.

Alt5 Sigma accumulated $1.5 billion worth of WLFI cryptocurrency in a circular transaction that routed more than an estimated $500 million to the startup in August. The company informed the SEC last Friday that its independent accountant, Hudgens CPA, PLLC, had resigned on November 21, effective immediately.

However, partner William Hudgens later told Forbes he notified the company before June 30 that he would step back after completing its second-quarter report because the firm was exiting public company audits. That timeline suggests the formal notice of resignation came after months of internal transition.

The firm’s board suspended chief executive Peter Tassiopoulos on October 16, but an internal email dated September 4 stated he had already been placed on temporary leave. Moreover, the overlap between management changes and delayed filings has fueled speculation about internal controls.

Securities law professor James Palmiter believes the delayed filing could signal that the company is struggling to find a new auditor. “There is quite a history of those who get close to the Trump Organization getting burned. Would you want to be their auditor?” he said, highlighting reputational risks surrounding entities linked to Trump-branded ventures.

Overall, Aster’s collaboration with WLFI, its aggressive buyback and rewards campaign, and the questions surrounding WLFI’s corporate ties underscore how rapidly evolving DeFi strategies now intersect with public market scrutiny and traditional securities oversight.