A few days ago, I had tea with the second brother, and he flipped through the information on ASTER and suddenly slammed the table: “8 billion total supply? Isn’t this a money grab?”

“Back in the day, ETH had no limit, which was considered bold; BNB only had 200 million. How have projects become more and more outrageous now?”

I have been trading cryptocurrencies for six years, from chasing scarce coins and getting stuck, to relying on high-issuance coins to break even. I have long understood one thing: today’s high issuance is all a play forced out by the market and technology, certainly not just random issuance.

The core is that the logic of token economics has long changed.

Seven years ago, the crypto world was still a blue ocean. ETH controlled the total supply through PoS, and BNB used burning to halve its supply, competing on “scarcity” to build faith.

But now, for the ecosystem to grow, ASTER directly distributes 53.5% of its tokens to the community, with 20% reserved for developer incentives, playing the game of “many hands make light work.”

The market has long turned into a red ocean.

The second brother suffered losses last year; he saw a coin that only issued 8 million pieces and rushed in, only to find himself trapped when the market maker dumped.

Looking back at high circulation coins like ASTER, both retail and institutional investors can easily enter the market. Their valuations are not easily inflated, and in a saturated market, they stand firmer.

Technical demands are also pushing up issuance.

The new generation of public chains must support microtransactions with tens of thousands of transactions per second; tokens serve as both “fuel” and are used for staking and governance. If the total supply is too small, it simply cannot circulate.

Just like XRP issuing 100 billion, it was originally meant to fit cross-border small payments; it can't just transfer a few dollars and have to calculate it to eight decimal places.

Current projects also understand better how to slice the cake.

In the early days, like ETH and BNB, 70-80% was distributed to ICO investors, and when large holders sold, it all collapsed.

ASTER has given more than half of its tokens to the community, attracting users through airdrops, directly reducing the risk of whale control.

And don't worry about inflation; there are safety mechanisms in place now.

After making money, ASTER will buy back and burn its tokens; BNB has already burned nearly 20%. To put it plainly, “a lot is issued, but even more is burned.”

The second brother eventually understood:

In this 8 billion of ASTER, the ecosystem funds are sufficient to support until 2025, perfectly matching the pace of the Binance ecosystem, all calculated in advance.

Now, when selecting coins, it’s no longer just about looking at the issuance numbers.

The focus is on two points: whether the community and ecosystem ratios are high enough and whether there are real destruction mechanisms in place.

Only those that can balance “everyone has a share” and “value doesn’t collapse” are truly reliable projects.