Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has clarified his connection to Aster, the fast-rising perpetual DEX whose native token $ASTER rocketed to $2.44 earlier this month, giving it a market cap of more than $3 billion. In a repost on X (formerly Twitter), CZ confirmed that several former Binance employees are part of the Aster team and that YZi Labs – a firm with ties to Binance’s ecosystem – holds a minority stake in the project. CZ explained his own role as well, writing: