Stablecoin TerraUSD continues its downward spiral; Bitcoins obtained

TerraUSD dropped to 10 cents early Friday, refused 82% from 24 hours ago, according to CoinDesk. It rose to about 14 cents by the end of the afternoon. The former third largest stablecoin — a cryptocurrency known for its stability — dropped in price by $1 later a wave of sales starts at the weekend. Its drop caused its sister token, Luna, to follow suit and weigh on bitcoin. Luna fell to less than half a cent on Friday, down from more than $60 on Monday.

TerraUSD and Luna blockchain platforms was stopped twice as its network validators seek to stabilize digital assets. Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, suspend trading of both TerraUSD and Luna by the end of Thursday.

On Friday, both blockchain and Binance’s TerraUSD and Luna trading resumed, according to the companies.

Stablecoins have grown in popularity over the past two years and now serve as a lubricant that moves the gears of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Traders like to buy currencies like bitcoin, ether, and dogecoin using digital assets pegged to the dollar because when they buy or sell, the price only moves in one direction. They also allow for fast transactions with no settlement time associated with government-issued currency, which can take days.

While the most popular stablecoins maintain their level with assets including dollar-denominated debt and cash, TerraUSD is an algorithm-based stablecoin that relies on financial engineering to stay linked to the dollar. la.

Previously, TerraUSD maintained its $1 price by relying on traders as its fulcrum. When it falls below the peg, traders will burn the stablecoin – removing it from circulation – by exchanging TerraUSD for $1 worth of new Luna units. That action reduced the supply of TerraUSD and increased its price.

Conversely, when the value of TerraUSD rises above $1, traders can burn Luna and create new TerraUSD, thereby increasing the stablecoin supply and reducing its price back to $1.

The financial engineering to maintain its rate began to falter over the weekend with a series of large TerraUSD withdrawals from Anchor Protocol, a kind of decentralized banking for crypto investors.

Meanwhile, TerraUSD has been sold for stablecoins backed by traditional assets through various liquidity pools that contribute to the stability of the exchange rate, as well as through cryptocurrency exchanges. This sudden outflow caused some traders to start selling TerraUSD and Luna panicking.

According to the fund’s data dashboard, the reserve fund worth about $3 billion in bitcoin and other crypto-resources, owned by the Luna Foundation Guard, has been largely depleted amid an emergency effort to pick up TerraUSD. Analysts and traders say the fund’s selling contributed to the sharp drop in bitcoin’s price earlier this week.

Write letter for Caitlin Ostroff at [email protected]