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Ethena (ENA) Is ‘The LUNA Of This Cycle’ With 20x Potential: Expert

Charles Edwards, the founder of Capriole Investments, has sparked significant interest and debate within the cryptocurrency community. He heralded Ethena (ENA) as “the Luna of this cycle,” but with a crucial difference: its economic fundamentals are deemed sustainable.

Edwards elaborated, “It’s 100% collateralized and the yield is variable based on market forces. Two things Luna wasn’t.” He also noted that at its zenith, Luna’s valuation exceeded ENA’s current market cap by more than twenty-fold, yet he cautioned, “ENA is not risk-free, custody and execution risk exist.”

Since its launch on April 2, ENA has seen a meteoric rise from under $0.30 to a high of $1.45. This rally is largely attributed to Ethena Labs’ strategic enhancement of its rewards program, now in its “Season 2,” which offers a 50% reward boost for users locking their ENA tokens for at least seven days. This move aims to bolster user engagement and loyalty, fostering a sustainable ecosystem for the Ethena platform.

A remarkable aspect of this ecosystem is the rapid growth of its stablecoin, USDe, which has outstripped the supply growth of established counterparts such as USDT, USDC, and DAI, reaching a $2 billion supply in just over 100 days.

However, the project’s high yields which are generated by harnessing the derivative markets and staked Ethereum have stirred skepticism among industry experts. Fantom founder Andre Cronje, among others, has raised concerns about the sustainability of these yields, which are the highest in the entire crypto industry.

Risks Involved With Ethena

Noteworthy, ENA is often compared to Terra Luna (LUNA), but the differences could not be much bigger, as Edwards also noted. While ENA is not risk free, a demise like the one of LUNA is highly unlikely. Despite that, investors need to be aware of other risks involved with ENA.

Diving deeper into the discussion of risks, CL (@CL207) from eGirl Capital offers an intriguing perspective on the behavior of derivatives traders. She clarifies, “It appears Ethena is making many people who don’t trade derivatives have a really hard time wrapping their heads around the fact that derivatives traders are so genuinely retarded that we’re willing to pay like 50%+ APR to enter a position.”

Notably, last cycle crypto traders were bidding futures so high that Bitcoin quarterlies earned “a locked-in >50% apr. She added, “just 50 days into 2021, we collectively paid 2,400,000,000$ in funding rates by the end of 2021, the market has paid as much as a decently sized country’s GDP.”

Monetsupply.eth (@MonetSupply) from Block Analitica provides a granular analysis of the risks Andre Cronje highlighted. Through his examination, several key areas of concern are outlined:

  • Oracle Risk: The potential impact on exchange positions due to Ethena providing inaccurate quotes on minting or redeeming operations. However, MonetSupply notes, “there’s rate limits on this tho so max loss is constrained and counterparties are all whitelisted (can’t just run away with the money).”
  • Liquidation Risk: Deemed not a significant factor as the portfolio is leveraged less than 1x, suggesting a conservative approach to borrowing and leverage.
  • Spread Risk: The possibility of increased basis leading to higher funding revenue, which should theoretically attract inflows. Conversely, a negative basis might cause outflows, but Ethena could benefit from closing hedged positions profitably.
  • Collateral Ratio Risk: Even though liquid staking tokens (LSTs) are given less than 100% weight on centralized exchanges (CEX), the overall low leverage mitigates this risk. The proportion of LST in spot collateral is relatively minor.
  • Custody Risk: Highlighted as one of the more significant concerns, given the reliance on custodians with a good track record and the distribution of assets across multiple entities.
  • Exchange Solvency Risk: This risk could lead to the loss of unsettled profit and loss (PnL) and some trading costs to rehedge on other exchanges. However, MonetSupply adds, “the Binance/ceffu nexus might change this assessment though, are they actually independent?”
  • Ethena Entity Risk: The internal risk related to Ethena’s keys or authentication tokens being compromised, or a team member acting maliciously.

MonetSupply concludes that despite these risks, the framework of overcollateralization on platforms like Morpho, the Maker surplus buffer, and the MKR backstop, supported by a substantial Proof of Liquidity (POL), serves as a robust mitigating factor.

At press time, ENA traded at $1.329.

Ethena ENA price

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Terra Classic Community Burns A Staggering 700 Million LUNC And 230,000 USTC – Details

The Terra Classic Community recently had something to cheer about following revelations about the amount of LUNC and USTC token burns that were carried out in the past week. During that period, a significant amount of LUNC and USTC tokens are said to have been burned, something which could positively affect the crypto tokens’ prices. 

The Number Of LUNC And USTC Burned

In an X (formerly Twitter) post, AlexCryptoBull, a member of the Terra community, brought to the community’s attention how 700 million LUNC and 230,000 were burned last week. Data from LUNCMetrics also confirms this development. 

The Terra ecosystem has had to intensify its token burns ever since the Terra LUNA crash in a bid to revive the LUNC and USTC tokens. So far, 94.31 billion LUNC and 1.50 billion USTC tokens have been burned and wiped out from circulation since May 13, 2022, around when the LUNA crash occurred. 

As part of this burn initiative, the community at one time had to vote on a proposal that, if passed, would have seen 800 million USTC tokens being burned. The proposal was, however, rejected due to legal concerns. 

Meanwhile, the Terra community has also deployed other initiatives to help in the resurgence. Interestingly, the community recently voted against a proposal that seemed promising. This proposal involved the development team exploring the possibility of the Terra blockchain becoming an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible platform. 

Terra, being EVM-compatible, offers numerous benefits to the network, including the possibility of LUNC and USTC surging in prices due to new money flowing into the ecosystem. However, some validators seemed to have had concerns about the funding that would have been needed to implement such a project and ultimately voted against the proposal. 

Terra Community Faces Another Setback

The Terra community was recently dealt another blow following the news that Terraform Labs had filed for bankruptcy. Considering the crypto firm’s ties with the Terra ecosystem, the LUNC and UST tokens experienced notable declines following this development. This could also mark the beginning of torrid times ahead for the community in their efforts to revive both tokens.

Specifically, there could be potential LUNC and USTC selloffs from the crypto firm as part of the bankruptcy proceeding, something which will no doubt trigger a decline in their price. The Terra community has already had to deal with legal troubles, which Terraform Labs is currently facing, with the court ruling that LUNA and TerraUSD were unregistered securities. 

At the time of writing, LUNC and USTC are trading at around $0.0001042 and $0.02536, respectively, both down over 5% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. 

LUNC price chart from Tradingview.com (Terra Classic community USTC)

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Terra Luna Classic Rockets Over 300% And Collapses — More Pain Ahead?

After an impressive 300% rally in the past week, Terra Luna Classic (LUNC) is now facing bearish pressure as it slumped nearly 10% this week.

Despite positive internal news for LUNC, the bears still hold the market at a chokehold. According to CoinGlass, a total of $222,000 worth of long positions were wiped out in the past 24 hours despite the open interest remaining positive. 

Terra Luna Classic: Internal Developments Drive Growth

Terra Luna Classic is making some noise online with its community X account being fairly active this month. Enterprise Protocol, a project powered by Terra Luna Classic, recently announced that the protocol can now create cross-chain treasuries on the Juno Network. 

“Enterprise is dedicated to simplifying DAO management. This includes no-code setup, voting & treasury management, and easy distribution of rewards to members. But limiting the fun to one chain would be sad. Which is why Enterprise DAO is expanding cross-chain!” the dev team said in a recent thread. 

This development would bring more throughput to the network, potentially increasing its exposure to other investors. Even though LUNC enjoys an active community, the market still holds a large sway on the token’s price. As of writing, the market is slowly cooling down after an enormous rally in the past week. 

More Pain To Come At These Levels

LUNC’s current price is standing above $0.00017491. As it currently stands, the token is at a crucial price point as any movement here can make or break future price movements. Investors and traders should exercise caution in the next couple of days as the market slows down and assets return to a more stable price point. 

LUNC’s main problem is its reliance on major market movements to instigate a hike in price. According to Coingecko, both Bitcoin and Ethereum are experiencing major pullbacks in price after a successful rally last week.

Although LUNC is included on the gainers list, investors should not hold this to heart as any pain in the broader market will hurt short to medium-term gains. 

But there is hope on the horizon as the US economy enters a dovish phase with market leaders speculating about rate cuts in 2024. 

“The soft landing that many doubted was possible is becoming more realistic every day,” Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group, said in an interview with Reuters.
“Inflation is no longer the problem it was and we still have a very healthy consumer, judging by today’s retail sales data,” he added. 

Featured image from Shutterstock

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Do Kwon: What Happened To The Terra Luna Founder?

Few names have sparked as much intrigue and controversy as Do Kwon (sometimes called Kwon Do). From the meteoric rise of Terra Luna to its sudden and tumultuous downfall, Do Kwon has become a figure of significant interest and speculation.

In this comprehensive exploration, we delve into the journey of Terra Luna’s Do Kwon, the mastermind behind one of the most talked-about projects in the crypto world. We’ll uncover the latest Do Kwon news that has kept the crypto community on its toes, analyze the Do Kwon net worth, and shed light into the future of Terra Luna without its founder.

Who is Do Kwon?

Do Kwon, whose full name is Kwon Do-hyung, is a South Korean crypto entrepreneur renowned as the co-founder and CEO of Terraform Labs. Born on September 6, 1991, in Seoul, South Korea, he has become a prominent figure in the cryptocurrency industry.

Kwon Do-hyung’s early education took place at Daewon Foreign Language High School in Seoul, one of South Korea’s most prestigious private schools. Furthermore, his academic journey led him to Stanford University in the United States, where he pursued a degree in computer science, laying the groundwork for his future endeavors in the tech and crypto industries.

Terra Luna Do Kwon

Tracing The Origins: The Path To Crypto Fame

After graduating from Stanford in 2015, Kwon Do-hyung returned to South Korea in 2016 and founded Anyfi, a connectivity solutions startup. Anyfi, which focused on a peer-to-peer Wi-Fi mesh network, was Do.Kwon’s initial foray into the tech startup world.

However, his interest soon pivoted to the then-nascent crypto market. After identifying a lack of robust crypto payment networks, he co-authored a white paper with Nicholas Platias, advocating for a decentralized payment system powered by a stablecoin to facilitate cryptocurrency payments and provide a medium of exchange with reduced volatility.

The Beginnings Of Terra Luna

This white paper caught the attention of Daniel Shin (whose full name is Shin Hyun-seung), a seasoned South Korean tech entrepreneur experienced in online payment systems. Afterwards, in 2018, Kwon Do-hyung and Hyun-seung co-founded Terraform Labs, leading to the development of the Terra (LUNA) cryptocurrency.

Terraform Labs introduced TerraUSD (UST), an algorithmic stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, in September 2020. The stability mechanism of UST, backed by the LUNA token, was a novel approach in the crypto world but ultimately led to the collapse of both cryptocurrencies in May 2022. But more on that later.

The Rise And Fall Of Terra Luna And Do Kwon

The story of Terra Luna and its co-founder Kwon Do-hyung is a tale of rapid ascension and dramatic downfall in the volatile world of cryptocurrency. It’s a narrative that encapsulates the inherent risks and potential of innovative financial technologies, and the fine line between genius and overreach.

Do Kwon Crypto Achievements

Do Kwon, as the co-founder of Terraform Labs, significantly impacted the cryptocurrency sector with the introduction of Terra Luna. Terraform Labs, under Kwon Do-hyung’s leadership, innovated in the realm of stablecoins, aiming to solve the problem of volatility in the crypto market.

Terra Luna’s unique selling point was its dual-token system: the native LUNA token and the TerraUSD (UST) stablecoin. UST was designed as an algorithmic stablecoin, an ambitious attempt to maintain a stable value relative to the US dollar without the need for traditional fiat collateral.

Do Kwon Luna: Triumphs And Trials

Terra Luna’s ecosystem experienced rapid growth and success, particularly with the popularity of its Anchor Protocol, which promised high yields on UST deposits. This contributed to a significant increase in LUNA’s value, as the protocol’s design required LUNA to be burned to mint UST, thereby reducing LUNA’s supply and increasing its price. However, the success of Terra Luna and its algorithmic stablecoin also brought increased scrutiny and challenges, especially concerning the sustainability and resilience of its stabilization mechanism.

Do Kwon Terra’s Downfall

The downfall of Terra Luna began with the destabilization of UST. Unlike traditional stablecoins backed by fiat or physical assets, UST’s stability was algorithmically linked to LUNA. To bolster confidence and add an additional layer of stability to UST, Terraform Labs amassed a significant reserve of Bitcoin. The idea was that these Bitcoin reserves could be liquidated to defend the UST peg in times of stress.

At its peak, the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG), established to manage these reserves, held over $3 billion in Bitcoin. However, when UST began to lose its peg due to massive sell-offs in May 2022, this triggered a series of events that led to the liquidation of these Bitcoin reserves. The sale of such a large amount of Bitcoin in a short period contributed to a crash in the crypto market.

This strategy of using Bitcoin as a reserve asset for an algorithmic stablecoin was unprecedented and, in this instance, ultimately proved ineffective. The rapid devaluation of UST and LUNA, coupled with the liquidation of Bitcoin reserves, not only led to the collapse of Terra Luna’s ecosystem but also sent shockwaves through the entire cryptocurrency market, eroding billions in market capitalization and investor confidence. The Terra Luna crisis highlighted the risks of algorithmic stablecoins and the complexities of using volatile assets like Bitcoin as a backing mechanism in times of market stress.

Do Kwon Net Worth

The financial trajectory of Kwon Do-hyung, marked by both remarkable successes and significant setbacks, paints a complex picture of his net worth.

The Wealth Rollercoaster: Do Kwon Net Worth

The Do Kwon net worth has been a subject of intense interest, especially in the wake of the Terra Luna collapse. At the peak of Terra Luna’s success, Do Kwon’s net worth was speculated to be in the billions, given the high valuation of the LUNA token and the Terra ecosystem. In April 2022, LUNA’s value soared, and the Terra ecosystem reached a staggering $60 billion valuation, significantly boosting the Do Kwon net worth.

However, this fortune was short-lived. Following the dramatic collapse of Terra Luna in May 2022, the Do Kwon net worth plummeted alongside the value of LUNA and UST. By July 2023, estimates placed his net worth at around $135 million, a substantial decrease from his peak wealth. Accordingly, this decline was primarily due to the obliteration of the Terra ecosystem, which significantly eroded the value of his holdings in LUNA and related crypto assets.

However, it’s important to note that the exact extent of Kwon’s current wealth, especially in liquid assets, remains somewhat opaque. His involvement in other blockchain projects and potential holdings in various cryptocurrencies may contribute to his overall financial portfolio.

Do Kwon News: The Latest Developments

Do Kwon’s situation has evolved rapidly, with significant developments unfolding after the Terra Luna collapse. As of the latest updates, Kwon Do-hyung faced legal challenges from multiple jurisdictions, including the United States and South Korea. In September 2022, a South Korean court issued an arrest warrant for Do Kwon, along with other individuals associated with Terra, on charges related to the collapse of the cryptocurrency.

Following the issuance of an Interpol Red Notice, Kwon Do-hyung was reported to have moved from Singapore and was believed to be in Serbia, before fleeing to Balkan state Montenegro. South Korean and US authorities continued their pursuit, seeking his extradition to face various charges, including securities fraud.

Do Kwon News In 2023

In February 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Kwon and Terraform Labs with securities fraud, alleging the creation of a fraudulent scheme that led to substantial investor losses. Afterwards, Do Kwon’s legal representatives contested these charges, challenging the SEC’s claims and its characterization of LUNA and other tokens as securities.

Authorities arrested Kwon in Montenegro on March 23, 2023, as he prepared to board a private jet to Dubai with falsified documents. Subsequently, a Montenegrin court sentenced him to four months in jail for document forgery, involving multiple passports and identity cards. This Do Kwon news followed an international search initiated by South Korean authorities, with both South Korea and the US seeking extradition related to Terra Luna’s collapse.

Terra Luna Do Kwon

In June 2023, the High Court in Podgorica confirmed that the Terra Luna founder would be held in “extradition custody” for a six-month period pending the review of South Korea’s extradition request.

The Future Outlook For Do Kwon And Terra Luna

Uncertainty and complexity shroud the future outlook for Do Kwon and the Terra Luna project. For Kwon, the immediate focus is on the legal challenges he faces. Furthermore, his extradition and the outcomes of the trials will significantly influence his personal and professional future.

As for Terra Luna, its future hinges on restoring investor confidence and demonstrating the viability of its revamped ecosystem, Terra 2.0. Furthermore, the effectiveness of Terra 2.0 and its ability to attract new users and developers will be critical in determining the project’s long-term viability. However, as of November 7, the Terra Luna Classic (LUNC) price was on the verge of a breakout from a multi-month downtrend channel.

Terra Luna Classic LUNC price

FAQ

What Is The Current Do Kwon Net Worth?

As of July 2023, estimates place the Do Kwon net worth at around $135 million, marking a significant decrease from its peak during the height of Terra Luna’s success.

Who Is Do Kwon?

Do Kwon (whose full name is Kwon Do-hyung) is a South Korean entrepreneur, the co-founder, and CEO of Terraform Labs, known for creating the Terra Luna cryptocurrency ecosystem.

How Has Do Kwon News Affected Terra Luna’s Stability?

The Do Kwon news, especially regarding legal challenges and his arrest, has negatively impacted Terra Luna’s stability, eroding investor confidence and raising concerns about the project’s future.

What Was Do Kwon Luna’s Strategy For Crypto?

Kwon’s strategy involved creating a stablecoin ecosystem with an algorithmic approach, aiming to reduce crypto market volatility and promote wider adoption of digital currencies.

What Are the Implications Of Do Kwon Stanford Education On His Career?

Kwon’s Stanford education provided a strong foundation in computer science and a network of peers and mentors, instrumental in his foray into the tech and crypto industries.

What’s The Latest Do Kwon News And Terra Luna?

The latest Do Kwon news include his arrest in Montenegro in March 2023 for document forgery and ongoing legal proceedings involving his extradition to face charges related to the Terra Luna collapse.

What Was Do Kwon’s Vision For Terra Luna?

Kwon envisioned Terra Luna as a blockchain platform that would revolutionize digital finance by offering a stable and scalable cryptocurrency, thereby addressing the limitations of traditional cryptocurrencies.

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LUNC Soars Over 70% – Temporary Spike Or Sustainable Climb Ahead?

Terra has stirred considerable attention of late, experiencing an impressive surge in prices that has left market observers intrigued. The catalyst behind this upward trajectory can be largely attributed to notable advancements within the Terra Ecosystem. A recent substantial capital infusion likely instilled significant confidence among investors, acting as a driving force behind the recent upswing in LUNC prices.

Examining The Factors Behind LUNC’s Meteoric Surge

In the last month, LUNC has been on quite a ride, marking an impressive 90% surge in its value. This has triggered discussions, prompting questions about whether this surge is just a momentary spike or the initiation of a more enduring upward trajectory.

The remarkable boost in LUNC’s value finds its roots in a couple of noteworthy events unfolding within the Terra ecosystem. Specifically, Terra Classic Labs strategically invested around $500,000 into TerraClassicUSD (USTC), the algorithmic stablecoin linked to the Terra platform.

The considerable token burn that has taken place recently is another key driver of the rally. The quantity of LUNC tokens in circulation has decreased to 5.8 trillion due to the destruction of around 78.24 billion of them, which could put more pressure on the token’s price.

The cryptocurrency industry frequently uses this process of token burning to control inflation and increase token value by lowering supply.

LUNC Showing Bullish Side

According to data from Coingecko, the price of LUNC has now surged by over 80% this month, with a 71% increase tallied this week in response to the announcement of Mint Cash and Binance’s launch of the USTC perpetual contract.

Furthermore, the increase happens a week after Terraform Labs allocated $10 million in assets among three different liquidity pools. As of writing, LUNC is trading at $0.00011. With a $513 million daily trading volume, LUNC’s market capitalization of $661 million places it as the 79th largest cryptocurrency asset.

LUNC’s indicators are all in very positive positions, which is not surprising given that the coin has increased by more than 30% in a single day. Before the present rally loses momentum, its relative strength index (purple) may peak at near to 90.

The coin’s 24-hour trading volume, which has increased from less than $20 million to more than $600 million virtually overnight, is arguably the most encouraging of all. This surge implies that whales have finally made a comeback to the token, pilfering more of it and igniting a broader rally.

Meanwhile, LUNC and USTC reported milestone price increases over the previous week, according to data from the crypto intelligence tracker Santiment. As a result of the two coins’ historic weekly gains, LUNC and USTC are now the top moving cryptocurrencies on Santiment’s tracker.

Santiment’s analysts predict that the milestone price rallies in both cryptocurrencies are probably signs that investors are suffering from FOMO, or the fear of missing out on these tokens’ gains, which has propelled the assets to the top of the list, surpassing both Bitcoin and Cosmos.

(This site’s content should not be construed as investment advice. Investing involves risk. When you invest, your capital is subject to risk).

Featured image from iStock

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Analyst Predicts Terra LUNA To Surge By 80-100% Following Key Event

LUNA, the native token of the Terra 2.0 blockchain, was among the many gainers in the past week positively affected by Bitcoin’s impressive rally toward the $35,000 mark.

According to data from CoinMarketCap, LUNA is up by 13.96% in the last seven days, providing some relief for investors who have had to endure the token’s bearish form in the previous weeks leading to this price rise. 

As expected, LUNA’s current bullish form has now attracted much attention, with some analysts speculating there could be more gains in the coming weeks. 

LUNA Could Double Its Value After Breaching Major Trendline, Analyst Says

In a post on X on Sunday, crypto analyst Captain Faibik shared with his 67,000 followers an intriguing bullish prediction on LUNA’s price trajectory.

Faibik, who claimed to not be a LUNA enthusiast, noted that the altcoin has recently broken a major bearish trendline and could potentially gain by 80-100%.

According to Faibik’s analysis, LUNA traded above $0.47 in the past week, breaching a bearish trendline that stretches as far back as January 2023 on the token’s daily chart.

Traditionally, trendlines are used by traders to connect several price points together and provide some insight into the potential direction of an asset’s price movement. 

When an asset’s price moves out of an established trendline, as in the case of LUNA, it can be interpreted as an impending price reversal.

Since the start of 2023, LUNA has produced an overall negative price performance, losing over 63% of its value in the last 10 months. However, if Faibik’s prediction proves true, the popular altcoin could be on its way to a remarkable recovery. 

At the time of writing, LUNA trades at $0.468 with a 0.70% decline in the last day. With an 80-100% price increase, this price could rise as high as $0.934 in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, LUNA’s daily trading volume is currently down by 3.73% and valued at $48.67 million. With a market cap of $263.92 million, LUNA is ranked as the 117th largest cryptocurrency.

Related Reading: Is Terra Classic Planning For USTC To Be Pegged To The Dollar Again?

Terra Community Approves New Proposal 

In other news, the Terra Community has recently passed governance proposal 4790 aimed at the active and aggressive development of the Terra ecosystem with resources provided by Terraform Labs.

Under this newly approved proposal, Terraform Labs, alongside Terra community partners, will explore opportunities to utilize non-LUNA capital in driving the growth of the project’s economy. 

In addition, 125 million LUNA will be staked by a Terra community council to encourage and reward active network engagement, offer essential services to support the ecosystem, and guarantee equitable decentralization.

LUNA

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Terra Classic (LUNC) Crashes 11% After This Binance Change

The Terra Classic (LUNC) price has been boosted in recent days by a rumor that the world’s second-largest exchange, Coinbase, might buy and list the token. As NewsBTC reported, the rumor originated from an anonymous source in the Terra Classic community.

However, the credibility of the rumor is more than questionable. Nevertheless, the community seemed to believe the rumor that Coinbase has approved the purchase of $245 million in LUNC and will make the listing on the exchange public on January 3.

The price subsequently rose from a low of $0.000125988 on Dec. 22 to a three-week high of $0.000185499 on Dec. 27. With this, the Terra Luna predecessor token saw a price increase of around 46%, bucking the current market trend.

However, the euphoria was dampened today by Binance after the crypto exchange announced that it is making changes to the Terra Classic trading fee burn.

Binance stated that following recent developments as outlined in proposal 10983 and proposal 11111, it will burn 50% of LUNC spot and margin trading fees instead of 100% starting in December 2022. By doing so, Binance is following the community’s proposals that LUNC burn will be converted into a development fund.

Binance’s change is thus done in line with the community’s intent to further reduce LUNC supply and in line with what they have agreed upon. To allow time for these new updates to be implemented, Binance will delay sending out the LUNC trading fee burn postings until January 3, 2023.

“Binance will continue to work with the community to support the implementation of this new plan, and if for any reason this is not possible, Binance will consider removing the burn contribution in the future,” the exchange added.

LUNC Price Poised For More Gains?

Since the high on December 27, the LUNC price has already lost about 16% of its price appreciation again. At press time, Terra Classic was trading at $0.000157195, down 11% over the last 24 hours. The trading volume within the same period was $245 million, down a modest -1.4% from the previous period.

A look at the 1-day chart reveals that on Boxing Day, the Terra Classic price managed to break out of a downtrend channel that has persisted since October. Today’s correction could represent a retest of the move, so traders should keep an eye on the $0.0001406 area.

Support could also be provided by the 50-day simple moving average (SMA), which sits at $0.000162919. Otherwise, the 200-day SMA at $0.000179240 should be decisive as the next resistance for the Terra Classic price.

Terra Luna Classic LUNC USDT 2022-12-28

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Terra Classic (LUNC) Beats The Odds With 16% Rally, More Gains Ahead

Terra Classic (LUNC) continues to show strength in the market despite losing over 99.9% of its value about 8 months prior. The digital asset which has now been reduced to the meme coin level still produces massive gains. Presently, LUNC is seeing double-digit gains even at a time when the majority of the market remains muted in terms of price performance.

Terra Classic Pulls Big Gains

Terra Classic (LUNC) saw a massive rally on Boxing Day that solidified massive gains for investors. Over the last 24 hours, LUNC has been able to rally more than 16% and has successfully broken resistance at the $0.00018 price level. 

The price recovery follows a return of positive sentiment in the community as a new developer task force called the “Joint L1 Task Force” has proposed to build a Layer 1 Terra Classic blockchain. This comes as the community looks to move on from “Terra Rebels,” the first LUNC developer task force that is now plagued by various accusations. The community has already called for a return of $150,000 that was allocated to the task force previously.

In addition, the Terra Classic community has also voted in favor of Proposal 11111. This proposal reduces the allocation of burned LUNC tokens within an epoch to the community to 10%, revoking the 50% that was previously proposed in Proposal 10983. This effectively reduces the number of tokens that would be brought back into circulation after being burned.

LUNA Classic (LUNC) price chart from TradingView.com

The proposal passed with 83.35% of votes being in favor and only 11.31% being against. The excitement from this news has also contributed to the rally in the price of the digital asset.

More Gains For LUNC?

Terra Classic (LUNC) is currently sitting at the top of the list of top gainers on Coinmarketcap over the past 24 hours. With an approximately 17% jump in the last day, the digital asset defies a market that has seen slow movement, especially with bitcoin volatility dropping to all-time lows.

LUNA Classic (LUNC) tops list of gainers

LUNC, on the other hand, tends to thrive in times like these. This is because, with the low momentum, larger assets such as bitcoin and ethereum are unlikely to move much, but with low-price cryptocurrencies such as LUNC, it presents an opportunity for investors since it is easier to move the needle. Couple this with the recent rise in positive sentiment in the community and it is a recipe for success.

Its price has now reached its second-highest level for the month of December after successfully touching above $0.00018 in the early hours of Tuesday. If the momentum holds, then the cryptocurrency will see $0.0002 before the end of the day.

LUNC was changing hands at $0.0001801 at the time of this writing, according to data from Coinmarketcap. Trading volume is up 157% in the last 24 hours and is sitting at $239.8 million.

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Terra Luna Classic Up 6% On Rumor That Coinbase Is Buying LUNC

The collapse of Terra Luna and algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD in May was one of the biggest setbacks for the broader crypto market this year. The previously thriving Terra ecosystem was completely wiped out in a matter of days, except for the Terra Luna token, which was resurrected as Terra Luna Classic (LUNC) by the community.

Despite losing more than 99% of its value, the cryptocurrency still has one of the most active crypto communities on social media. And from it springs a rumor today that has pumped the price of LUNC by 6%. The rumor says that the second largest exchange in the world by trading volume, Coinbase, might buy the LUNC token in large quantities.

Will Coinbase Buy Terra Luna Classic?

Within the LUNC community, the news that Coinbase has authorized the purchase of $245 million in LUNC is currently spreading like wildfire. The speculation also indicates that the American exchange will make the news public on January 3, 2023, and provide information about additional LUNC burns.

However, it is important to note that Coinbase has not yet issued an official statement on the matter. The various tweets also do not indicate a source, but merely make the claim based on a supposed source. Who this source of information is, whether it is someone internal, does not seem clear at the moment.

However, if the rumor turns out to be true, it could trigger the often-seen “Coinbase effect,” which causes altcoins to rise sharply before a listing on Coinbase. Remarkably, the rumor of a listing of LUNC is not new either.

Just two months ago, the Luna Classic community started a petition to list LUNC on Coinbase, as NewsBTC reported. The Terra community wants to follow in the footsteps of the Shiba Inu community, which managed to get the meme coin listed. The Coinbase effect provided SHIB with a short-lived 20% pump.

LUNC Price Rises By 6%

At press time, the LUNC price stood at $0.00013625, registering a 6% price increase in the last 24 hours. Along with the surge in price, the trading volume of LUNC has also grown noticeably. Within the last 24 hours, it amounted to $90 million, which is 56% higher than the previous day.

However, a look at the 4-hour chart reveals that LUNC remains in a deep bearish trading range. The short-lived rally ended just before the crucial resistance at $0.00014138. To set a bullish trend, LUNC needs to cross the trading range of $0.00013787 to $0.00015379.

If the rally is short-lived, the support zone at $0.00012612 could be an important mark. Otherwise, the all-time low of LUNC at $0.00012136 would probably be on the table.

Terra Luna Classic LUNC USDT 2022-12-22

Featured image from Depositphotos, Chart from TradingView.com 

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LUNA: Are Updates On Terra Insufficient For A Complete Turnaround In Price?

There is a group called the Terra Rebels whose goal is to restore the natural environment of Terra Classic.

On Twitter, a member by the name of Architect123 recently updated the community on the most recent developments in the ecosystem.

Let’s take a quick glance at some recent developments:

  • Recent statistics suggest that an increase in dApp development activity can be attributed to changes made available to developers
  • Metrics and technicals continue to act as a brake on price

The tweet implies that the TerraDart alpha package will make it possible for dApps to interact with the LUNC blockchain from within a Flutter or Dart environment.

The software development kit would help make developing dApps on-chain to be more streamlined.

Data from Santiment shows that because of this recent change, LUNA’s on-chain development activity has increased dramatically. Metrics and technological details, however, hint to a bleak future for the ecosystem.

LUNA Falls Due To Bearish Technicals

The current price of one coin is $1.5807. Pearson’s R for the regression channel is 0.6221, which indicates strong bearishness despite the price being at a green candle. This portends a probable decline in price.

Nonetheless, a positive crossover in the RSI indicates some optimism. The data are also on the rise, confirming the creation of a price downturn. The MACD indicator is also approaching a bullish crossing, confirming a modest upswing.

Nonetheless, a retreat would not be sufficient for a complete recovery. The EMA ribbon remains bearish, functioning as a dynamic resistance. The $1.5457 support is underpinning the recent retreat, therefore investors and traders should keep an eye on it.

In the coming days, the Bollinger band is also in the process of developing a crunch zone, which would be another obstacle to a complete recovery.

Terra: On Developments & Price Action

According to TradingView’s technical analysis of the cryptocurrency, investors should sell since a decline is inevitable.

This is further supported by a significant drop in LUNA’s MFI value, which indicates that the present upward price trend will be subject to a quick reversal.

Certainly, the new developments have an effect on the price of LUNA. Sadly, this is insufficient to halt the pessimism around the asset. Messari has a Sharpe ratio of -4.34, indicating that LUNA’s returns compared to its risk are close to zero or negative.

Currently, a short position after a bearish breakout at $1.5457 would be profitable for investors and traders in this extremely unfavorable market situation.

Crypto total market cap at $796 billion on the daily chart | Featured image: CoinQuora, Chart: TradingView.com

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Terra Classic Surges By 17%; Korean Prosecutors Seek Arrest of Co-Founder

With the implosion of the LUNA coin, the Terra ecosystem was devastatingly hit within a few days in May 2022. The successor, Luna Classic (LUNC), currently once again surged in price.

LUNC briefly rose to $0.00019439, registering a 20% price increase. At press time, the LUNC price showed a correction. However, LUNC was still at $0.00018 and showed a price increase of 11% over the last 24 hours.

Terra LUNC USDT

LUNC price, 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

The background for the sudden pump was the fact that Binance destroyed more than 6 billion LUNC in the sixth batch of the Terra Classic token burn on Thursday. Binance sent $1 million worth of LUNC tokens to a dead address, wiping out 12.77 million LUNC.

With the current token burn, Binance has now destroyed nearly 20 billion LUNC tokens.

The leading crypto exchange introduced the Terra Classic (LUNC) burn mechanism for trading fees in September this year. It was a response to a LUNC community proposal.

All trading fees for LUNC spot and margin trading pairs are burned by Binance by sending them to the LUNC burn address. The specific amount of LUNC burned and the on-chain transaction ID are published each month.

With the token burn, the LUNC community aims to make the token deflationary by destroying tokens and thus reducing the overall supply.

According to the supply/demand theory, an increase in value occurs when the supply decreases and the tokens become rarer. For the moment, this seems to work quite well as LUNC has seen green daily candles on most occasions when the burn took place.

Terra Co-Founder Facing Arrest In South Korea?

In other Terra ecosystem news, Terraform Labs Pte. Ltd. co-founder Shin Hyun-Seung, also known as Daniel Shin, and seven other Terra employees are facing a court hearing in South Korea today.

The hearing from South Korean prosecutors is for the issuance of an arrest warrant for the eight individuals. To that end, hearings began today for Shin and the other Terra employees.

According to the Korea Times, Shin is accused of making illicit profits of over 140 billion Korean won, the equivalent of about $107 million, from the cryptocurrency LUNA.

He is accused of promoting the Terra stablecoin as a payment method despite multiple warnings from regulators and misusing the private data of Chai Corporation users to promote Terra Luna.

South Korean prosecutors accuse Shin and his partners of violating the Capital Markets Act and the Electronic Financial Transactions Act, as well as dereliction of duty.

Shin denies the charges, claiming that he sold over 70% of his LUNA holdings before the price spike. Also, he’s claiming that he still held a significant amount of LUNA during the May collapse.

A decision is expected either in the late Friday evening hours in South Korea or on Saturday.

Remarkably, Terra CEO, Kwon Do-hyung, better known as Do Kwon, is still on the run. South Korean authorities issued an arrest warrant for Do Kwon in September.

In October, his passport was declared invalid by South Korean authorities. Rumors have it that Do Kwon was in Singapore, Dubai and Europe in the meantime.

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NYDIG Analyzed The FTX Collapse And Its Implications. What Did We Learn?

It’s time for NYDIG to chip in. The FTX fiasco is the theme of the month in the crypto world, and the show’s just beginning. The NYDIG research team avoids the temptation to summarize the whole saga and goes straight to the implications of the fall of Sam Bankman-Fried’s empire. “Some signs of contagion have appeared but a full accounting of the damage and regaining of investor confidence will likely take time,” they say understating the harsh reality. 

Taking a page from NYDIG’s book, let’s skip the intro and go straight to the conclusions.

Contagion Is Around The Corner

Speaking about “signs of contagion,” NYDIG mentions BlockFi and the Genesis/ Gemini combo. However, there might be much more to come.

“Several other service providers have piqued the curiosity of crypto sleuths as potential next dominoes, but we hesitate to speculate too much without hard evidence. Regardless, industry participants are on edge for even the slightest signs of stress and continue to pull balances off exchanges.”

In the contagion section of the paper, we find a rare mention of a conspiracy theory that’s making the rounds in crypto twitter. Rarely do big players bring this up. Of course, NYDIG ends up doubling down on the thesis about Terra/Luna that they put out in a previous paper titled “On Impossible Things Before Breakfast.”

“There have been accusations that Alameda caused the initial de-peg of UST, and while that may have been the case, uneconomic rates paid by the Anchor Protocol and insecure economic design of LUNA/UST ensured its ultimate destruction, destroying $60B worth of crypto wealth in a few short days.”

In the previous paper, NYDIG printed a great segway to the next section. “DeFi is not decentralized. The Terra ecosystem was not decentralized. Terra initially sourced funding from LUNA token issuance apportioned to Terraform Labs at inception.”

FTTUSD price chart - TradingView

FTT price chart on Bitstamp | Source: FTT/USD on TradingView.com

NYDIG On DeFi Vs. CeFi

Even though they’re clearly not fans of DeFi, NYDIG gives them some credit. “Most DeFi protocols operated as advertised through the volatility this year, minus the ongoing hacks within the ecosystem.” True, but the ongoing hacks are not a minor factor. It’s a billion-dollar problem with no apparent solution available. However, according to NYDIG, this time the problem lies with centralized finance, and those companies “did the rest of the damage” by engaging in these behaviors:

“Poor risk controls, conflicts of interest, excessive leverage, unclear accounting, counterparty risks, and poor management were just some of the factors at play. Furthermore, the use of an equity-like token, FTX Token (FTT), as collateral exacerbated the issue.”

Is More Regulation The Answer?

According to NYDIG, the industry was expecting “improved regulatory clarity for US investors.” However, thanks to the FTX crash and Sam Bankman-Fried’s political lobbying, “the path in DC has grown more complicated. Regulators will now be on their toes and increasingly more likely to use their current authority to enforce existing regulations and possibly issue new ones.”

It is what it is, however one has to take into account that “FTX.com wasn’t even a US entity, which raises the question of how impactful improved US regulations would have been, at least with respect to preventing the specific recent events surrounding FTX.” That’s true, but FTX was in business with several US fully regulated entities. If effective, shouldn’t Silvergate’s AML procedures have detected Sam Bankman-Fried’s shenanigans? 

A related question would be, shouldn’t the due diligence of the highly regarded entities that invested in FTX have detected that something was off?

Featured Image by Kaleidico on Unsplash | Charts by TradingView

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Terra Community Burns 25 Billion LUNC Tokens, Will It Reach The Highs?

The Terra Classic LUNC has been putting more effort into resuscitation its new position in the crypto space. Unfortunately, the algorithmic stablecoin Terra and LUNA collapse in May caused a massive loss in the industry. The crisis intensified the crypto winter of the year, leading to the loss of billions of dollars.

However, the new Terra ecosystem is gradually building against its previous loss. One of its distinctive approaches is the protocol’s burning mechanism. This action brought about the 1.2% tax burn for on-chain LUNC transactions, as proposed by one of the Terra community members.

Burning LUNC Tokens And New Tax Burn

The Terra community has embraced the burning mechanism in line with its plans. According to a recent report, the district has burned almost 25 billion Terra Classic till now.

Also, a report noted that the crypto exchange giant, Binance, has tremendously moved in LUNC burns. Recently, Binance announced burning over 1.34 billion Terra Classic in the fourth batch of its weekly burns. It quoted 2.68 million coins as the transaction for the burn.

Terra Community Burns 25 Billion LUNC Tokens, Will It Reach The Highs?

LUNC growth slows down on the chart l LUNCUSDT on Tradingview.com

Binance pledged its support for Terra’s burning mechanism. So far, the exchange has burned almost 12.5 billion LUNC tokens through its trading fees on spot and margin trading pairs.

But Binance noticed a drop in its weekly burning of LUNC tokens. This made its CEO CZ suggest a reduction in the burning tax to increase both on-chain and off-chain transactions.

Recently, the Terra Luna Classic community voted for a change in the tax burning of tokens. The change was from 1.2% to 0.2%, as contained in Proposal 5234. The community expressed its enthusiasm over the new tax burn resulting in its massive voting.

Terra community has adopted the tax burn as a process that facilitates the growth of LUNC price. The mechanism will destroy 10 billion LUNC from the token’s total supply. The new tax burn change took effect on October 19.

Terra Classic Price Performance

It has not been quite easy for LUNC amid the bearish trend in the crypto market. But the token is showing a formidable strength during the drastic period.

Today’s reclaiming in the crypto market gave the token another great price movement. At the time of writing, LUNC is trading at $0.00241, depicting an increase of 5.50% over the past 24 hours.

The token saw 13 out of 30 (43%) green days over the past 30 days, with a 9.86% price volatility. Using some technical indicators, the LUNC sentiment currently reads Neutral. LUNC has 15 indicators that show bullish signals and 14 that indicate bearish signals.

Featured image from Pixabay, Chart: TradingView.com

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Total LUNC Burned Crosses 24 Billion, But Is It Enough?

LUNA Classic (LUNC) is still receiving a lot of support from investors and firms in the space despite having lost a significant portion of its value after the Terra network crash. LUNC’s supply ballooned during this time, reaching trillions of tokens in circulation. This increased supply continues to hinder the increase in price for the digital asset, prompting various burn initiatives to help reduce its supply.

More Than 24 Billion LUNC Burned

Since the LUNC burn was implemented a couple of months ago, it has ramped up to include burns from Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world. The 1.2% burn tax on all LUNC transactions has also helped the burned figure, making it one of the most reliable avenues for burning LUNC.

Binance’s burn is now about one month in the making and the exchange has already burned billions of LUNC. The latest Binance burn saw 1.3 billion tokens being taken out of circulation. However, one thing was apparent and that is the fact that the amount of LUNC being burned by the exchange has consistently declined over the last 4 weeks. 

This is understandable given that the burned tokens are those realized from trading fees and LUNC trading volume has been on the decline. Nevertheless, there is already more than 24 billion LUNC burned so far. This translates to over $5.5 million worth of tokens burned at today’s price. 

LUNC price chart from TradingView.com

LUNC price at $0.00023 | Source: LUNCUSD on TradingView.com

Burn Rate Too Slow

Even though there have been millions of dollars worth of tokens burned, it is still so insignificant compared to the supply of the digital asset. The Binance burns were expected to bring about large burns but Monday’s burn saw only about $300,000 worth of tokens burned.

There is also the fact that the burn tax for LUNC on-chain transactions is being reduced from 1.2% to 0.2% and exchanges such as Binance have already begun to implement this burn. However, off-chain transactions are still subject to the burn tax. What this means is that there is going to be an even lower burn rate going forward given the lower burn tax. It impacts the digital asset’s price because there are not enough tokens being taken out of circulation.

Additionally, the daily volume across exchanges is on the decline. Data from Coinmarketcap shows it is down almost 50% in the last 24 hours. If the trading volume is low, then there are lower trading fees to be burned, coming full circle of the burn rate being too slow.

LUNC is currently trading at $0.00023 at the time of this writing. It is the 35th largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of $1.5 billion.

Featured image from MEXC Blog, chart from TradingView.com

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The Other Side Of The Do Kwon Story: Fat Man Terra Visits Laura Shin

It’s time to listen to the other side. Fat Man Terra used to be a cog in the Terra machine, but nowadays he’s the protocol’s biggest critic. He’s also a researcher, and his investigation lead him to believe that Terra was a scam from the very beginning. Of course, Laura Shin’s Do Kwon interview rubbed Fat Man Terra the wrong way. So, exercising his right to reply, he went to the same platform and told his side of the story.

If what Fat Man Terra says is true, the Terra/ Luna story is a horror film. 

A court will probably decide if he’s right or wrong, though. Let’s explore his allegations, taking into account that this is just the investigator’s interpretation of the facts. He might know more about the Terra/ Luna case than everyone on Earth, though.

This is the introduction to the episode titled “Fat Man Terra Speaks: Do Kwon Is a ‘Sociopath’ and a ‘Charismatic Manipulator”:

“Fat Man Terra, the anonymous Twitter account dedicated to bringing Do Kwon to justice, reacts to my recent interview with Do Kwon and says what he thinks it revealed about his personality.”

This is the video:

Fat Man Terra Presents The Case

  • According to the pseudonymous investigator, the Terra creators were “unfairly enriching themselves” and failed to disclose critical information to investors. On purpose.
  • Regarding his interview with Shin, Fat Man Terra thinks Do Kwon was “dancing around questions” and didn’t answer directly several of them. 
  • He thinks Do Kwon was “intentionally lying” about Terra’s breakup with Chai. Both when it happened and during the interview. At best, the situation was “heavily mishandled.”
  • Fat Man Terra claims that on-chain data shows that TerraForm Labs cashed out billions of dollars. They cashed out throughout Terra’s whole existence.
  • He also thinks there’s proof that the organization has “hundreds of millions stashed away.”
  •  According to the pseudonymous investigator, at the time Terra claimed that the protocol was attacked, but could not find “proof of fraud.”

The investigator also thinks that Do Kwon is “not able to stick to one story.” That’s a characteristic that fraudsters often exhibit. And he claims there’s a reason that regulators all over the world are looking at Terra specifically. Some things don’t add up, and this case is far from over. 

LUNA price chart on Eightcap | Source: LUNA/USD on TradingView.com
Opinions About Do Kwon’s Character

Respectfully, Fat Man Terra goes for the throat. He’s been studying Do Kwon and his diagnosis is that the man is:

  • A “sociopath with little regard for people’s feelings.”
  • “Avoiding law enforcement” and “definitely on the run.”
  • An idiot. Apparently, Do Kwon held all of the company’s bitcoin reserves in a single wallet. 
  • A liar. He knew that his involvement in the failed algorithmic stablecoin Basis Cash was relevant and should have disclosed it. 
  • A thief. Do Kwon was pretending to believe in Terra over everything and promoting it as such to retail. In reality, he was “simultaneously pulling out” hundreds of millions. 

According to Fat Man Terra, it all comes down to that. “If you really believe in UST, why did you cash out so much,” he asks Do Kwon. Also, why did he made up statistics and inflated the network’s numbers? 

The investigator will “start to believe he’s sorry” when Do Kwon starts making affected Terra investors whole from his own pocket. 

Fat Man Terra Is Still Optimistic

The parasites will always be there, surrounding the crypto space. According to Fat Man Terra, if the industry wants to survive we have to start “calling out scammers” and “pushing for justice.” He believes the industry will develop “failsafe mechanisms” to filter out bad actors and, in general, he’s “optimistic about the future of the space.” Make no mistake, though. Despite the optimism, the investigator claims that “Terra was a scam at every level.”

According to Laura Shin, Do Kwon will be back to answer the allegations in the future.

Featured Image: Laura Shin screenshot from the interview | Charts by TradingView