• Aster is up roughly 9% so far on Thursday, hinting at the breakout of a crucial resistance level.
• Aster partners up with Binance wallet for the second season of the on-chain perpetuals challenge.
• Derivatives data show increased retail demand, boosting capital inflows in ASTER futures. 

Aster (ASTER) is extending its recovery for the third consecutive day with roughly 9% gains at press time on Thursday, approaching the $0.750 mark. The perpetual-focused Decentralized Exchange (DEX) partnered with Binance Wallet for an on-chain perpetuals trading challenge on Thursday. Derivatives data show that retail demand for ASTER remains elevated so far this week, boosting its Open Interest. 

Aster gains retail strength amid trading competition, mainnet announcement

Aster announced a partnership with Binance Wallet for the second season of the on-chain perpetuals challenge, enabling users to trade tokenized stocks and metals at a 0% maker fee, with up to 100,000 USDT in rewards. Trading volume from the challenge will count toward the final season 6 ASTER airdrop. 

The recovery also aligns with the Aster mainnet release, announced on Thursday, which is scheduled for March.

CoinGlass data show that the ASTER futures Open Interest (OI) stands at $357.13 million, up over 16% in the last 24 hours. Typically, a steady increase in OI during an uptrend indicates heightened capital inflows driven by rising investor interest. 

The bullish trend in capital inflows is evidenced by a positive funding rate of 0.0020%, suggesting that traders are willing to hold long positions at a premium. Additionally, the long-to-short ratio is 1.0657, which exceeds 1, indicating more active long positions than short positions.

Aster gains bullish momentum amid chances of a Golden Cross pattern

ASTER is holding steady above $0.740 at the time of writing on Thursday, with roughly 9% gains in the day. The perp-DEX token has surpassed the R1 pivot point at $0.718 on the 4-hour chart but requires a decisive candle close to confirm the breakout. If ASTER closes above this level, the rally could extend to the R2 pivot point at $0.812, followed by resistance at the R3 pivot point at $0.969. 

The crypto is holding above the 200-period Exponential Moving Average (EMA) on the same chart, while an upward slope in the 50-day EMA suggests a Golden Cross pattern is likely. 

The technical indicators on the 4-hour chart reflect a clear bullish dominance in the short term. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at 76, rising higher into the overbought zone, while the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) extends an upward trend as green histogram bars expand. 

If ASTER fails to hold above $0.718, it could retest the 200-period EMA at $0.642.