This week four big things happen at once: Aster or Monad hand out free tokens, Portal starts its Bitcoin link and Lighter offers cash back after its system failed. Traders, liquidity providers and treasuries now need to check how much cash they will need, how long tokens stay locked and how much of each new coin they will hold. The confluence of token claims, a bridge launch and a platform reboot sets the stage for swift shifts in liquidity and pricing.
Aster starts its second round of free token hand-outs on or near 14 Oct 2025, the amount equals 4% of all ASTER tokens, about 320 million coins, worth roughly $700 million at $2.30 each. The same report lists 704 million tokens as unlocked on day one and the rest paid out over 80 months, so users should ask Aster which figure is correct. Aster leads perpetual DEX volume with $41.78 million traded each day, but its price dropped 10% and scammers now send fake wallet links.
Monad opens its claim site on 14 Oct 2025; on 8 Oct the build stood at 98% done. The team plans a live network before the end of 2025, a chain that works like Ethereum but runs contracts in parallel and aims for 10,000 trades per second. Pre-launch bets value all Monad tokens at $15 billion, and Paradigm and others already paid $225 million to fund the work.
Portal to Bitcoin plans to go live on 13 Oct 2025; the bridge will let BTC move to other chains and give the coin more uses. This link is positioned to expand Bitcoin’s utility across ecosystems while inviting fresh flows and arbitrage.
Airdrops and launches: Aster, Monad and Portal
Lighter left beta as well as traded with zero knowledge proofs, then went offline. The team now lists how much cash each user and liquidity provider will receive so people trust the platform again. Lighter third by volume and notes Hyperliquid lost 38% of its share.
Free tokens or new chains hit the market at the same time, meaning more coins chase the same dollars and prices may swing. Treasuries and market makers must plan for lock-ups and sudden sales; traders see price gaps but also risk fast reversals. After past liquidations, users now demand clear books and push central exchanges to report numbers that match the blockchain. Technical note: an airdrop is a free send of tokens to wallets that meet set rules.
