This week, the value of the fiat-pegged cryptocurrency economy has climbed to 0 billion, a peak last observed in May 2022, shortly before Terra’s UST detached from its intended parity on May 9, 2022. In the past month, various stablecoins have experienced an increase in supply, with Ethena’s USDE at the forefront, registering a […]
Bitcoin News
Montenegro Court Halts Extradition of Terra’s Do Kwon to the US
In a pivotal legal reversal, Montenegro’s Court of Appeals has annulled the extradition of Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon to the United States, siding with his defense’s appeal and invalidating a prior High Court ruling from Feb. 20. Montenegro’s Appeal Court Blocks Do Kwon’s U.S. Extradition, Cites Legal Flaws This latest court decision underscores the […]
Bitcoin News
Terra’s Do Kwon Seeks Trial Delay, Citing Extradition Holdup
Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon has requested that the judge in his fraud case delay the trial date, currently set for Jan. 29, 2024, because Kwon is still tied up in extradition proceedings in Montenegro.
Terra’s Do Kwon Requests Trial Postponement Due to Extradition Issues
In a letter to U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff dated Jan. 11, Kwon’s lawyers said they had hoped he would be extradited in time for the trial but that now appears unlikely until February or March. The letter was first shared by Inner City Press reporter Matthew Russell Lee. Kwon and his legal team said in the letter that he wishes to attend the trial in person but needs more time for the extradition process to play out.
“Unfortunately, it now appears that Mr. Kwon is not likely to be extradited until February or March at the earliest. We understand the court cannot put the trial on hold indefinitely, but an adjournment until mid-March would provide a realistic possibility for Mr. Kwon to attend,” the letter states.
The request comes after a Montenegro appeals court in December overturned an earlier ruling approving Kwon’s extradition to the U.S. to face charges related to the spectacular collapse in 2022 of the Terra ecosystem and its signature stablecoin terrausd (UST). Federal prosecutors charged Kwon with various counts of fraud for his role in developing the stablecoin and blockchain system.
Kwon’s lawyer said in the letter that if the judge declines to postpone the trial date, Kwon intends to ask that the jury receive an instruction about his absence that is fair to him. The letter indicates Kwon strongly desires to be present for the fraud trial stemming from the implosion of his brainchild that cost investors billions of dollars in the aftermath.
What do you think about Do Kwon’s latest request? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
Terra’s Do Kwon Receives 4-Month Jail Sentence in Montenegro for Counterfeit Passport Usage
Montenegro’s court has determined that Do Kwon, the co-founder of Terraform Labs, is guilty of using a counterfeit Costa Rican passport. As a result, he has been sentenced to four months in jail for the offense.
Do Kwon Sentenced to 122 Days in Prison, Defendant Has 8 Days to Appeal
According to the Montenegrin court, Do Kwon, also known as Kwon Do-Hyung, has been convicted of possessing and attempting to use a counterfeit passport. The court’s announcement specifies that Kwon has been found guilty of the criminal offense of document forgery. Montenegrin law enforcement authorities will seize Kwon’s travel documents, which include a Costa Rican passport, a Belgian passport, and two other forms of identification.
The court has imposed a four-month jail sentence on Kwon, as stated in a translated court statement that mentions “all relevant circumstances were taken into consideration in determining the severity of the sentence.” Kwon has an eight-day window to lodge an appeal following the receipt of a written copy of the court’s judgment.
Kwon’s sentencing comes after the former executive of Terraform Labs was granted bail, with a set amount of 5,000. Nevertheless, the Montenegrin High Court unequivocally revoked the lower court’s bail ruling on May 24, 2023. Marija Rakovic, a court spokeswoman, directly relayed this official information to Bloomberg.
So far, Kwon has been incarcerated in Montenegro for a cumulative period of 88 days. Unless he files an appeal against the verdict, it is anticipated that he will serve an additional 122 days in jail. Reports indicate that Montenegro’s prisons are overcrowded and deemed distressing. Meanwhile, both South Korea and the United States are actively pursuing the establishment of an extradition treaty with Montenegro, aiming to bring Kwon to face charges in their respective countries.
What are your thoughts on the four-month jail sentence handed to the co-founder of Terraform Labs for using a counterfeit passport? Share your views and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
Laura Shin Asks Terra’s Do Kwon The Though Questions. What Did We Learn?
This is the Do Kwon interview everyone was waiting for. In the latest episode of Laura Shin’s Unchained Podcast, titled ‘It Was Never Really About Money or Fame or Success’, the Terra creator faces serious scrutiny. Do Kwon denounces media misinformation, denies several serious charges and gives a play-by-play explanation of the organization’s movements during the crash. And he sweats bullets.
Laura Shin did her homework, and relentlessly puts forward the questions most Terra investors have. She does this in a non-threatening, extremely professional way. Do Kwon answers all of her questions. Some better than others, but the man does show his face and answers, which is a lot. Compassionately, Laura Shin also gives Do Kwon a second opportunity to say sorry to Terra’s affected investors and their families. He would’ve come across much worse if she hadn’t offered that second chance.
The episode’s intro says:
“Do Kwon, cofounder of Terraform Labs, discusses the charges against him, gives a message to Terra victims, answers allegations about potential fraud and non-transparent business practices.”
This is the video:
Let’s bring out the bullet points and analyze this phenomenal piece of media. This Do Kwon interview is one for the books. One that everybody interested in the subject should watch.
Do Kwon On His Location And “On The Run” Status
- He claims he doesn’t live in South Korea anymore and is not planning to return to face the alleged charges. He plans to appeal, though.
- Do Kwon hasn’t seen a copy of the arrest warrant.
- Apparently, cryptocurrencies are securities in South Korea.
- His team has been cooperating with South Korean authorities, fulfilling the court requests for different documents.
- Do Kwon refuses to reveal his current location because of the difficulties it brings to his living situation. He denies he’s on the run.
- He denied frozen funds at the KuCoin and OKX exchanges belong to him, Terraform Labs, or the LFG foundation.
The most important news Do Kwon reveals, though, is that the organization is working with a chain analysis firm to produce a paper on their trading activities. “They should be publishing a report shortly, which I think is going to provide a lot more clarity,” he said. Do Kwon promised the report in “the next couple of weeks.”
LUNA price chart on Kraken | Source: LUNA/USD on TradingView.com
Terra Was a Failure But It Was Not A Scam
- Do Kwon claims that his online persona was an alter ego and confesses that he got carried away with the “sh*tposting.”
- Terra’s failure was caused by the protocol’s “weakness to respond to the cruelty of the markets.”
- He admits to a lot of technical and theoretical mistakes but denies Terra was a scam.
- Do Kwon claims that the Anchor developers/ whistleblowers that came forward denouncing the protocol were only interns. Not a line of their code appears in the final product, and this is apparent in GitHub.
- Admits to the SDT premine of .4B. This was a second stablecoin that the Terra organization used to maintain the UST peg to the dollar. This stablecoin wasn’t even mentioned in the Terra whitepaper. According to Do Kwon, this was because they hadn’t conceived SDT when they wrote it. He claims Terra’s is an “academic whitepaper” and wasn’t supposed to cover all of the technologies’ use cases.
- Do Kwon admits they were using market operations to maintain the UST peg to the dollar. In fact, he says this was always the idea. The creation and minting of LUNA was not the only procedure that was supposed to maintain the peg.
Do Kwon And The Other Admissions
- Apparently, Terra and Chai haven’t been working together for a long time.
- When asked about faking Chai’s numbers and interactions registered in the Terra blockchain, Do Kwon said that the numbers came from Chai. According to him, they were probably “distancing themselves” from the Terra situation but still using the blockchain.
- When asked about his participation in Basis Cash, a failed algorithmic stablecoin, Do Kwon distanced himself from the situation. He was just founding the team, but had nothing to do with the actual project. “Basis Cash is not something that I designed or operated. It’s something that I encouraged,” Do Kwon said.
- When asked about if he was planning to compensate Terra investors from his own pocket, Do Kwon said, “my personal funds are not significant enough to make a difference.”
- He still believes the world needs to work towards a decentralized future and that we need censorship-resistant money.
As for his future plans, Do Kwon says he plans to continue building “highly experimental” projects in the crypto space.
Featured Image: Do Kwon and Laura Shin, screenshot from the video interview | Charts by TradingView
NewsBTC
Why Terra’s Anchor Protocol Changed Earn Rate To 18% APY
Anchor Protocol, one of the most popular platforms in the Terra ecosystem, rolled out a change in its Earn Rate. The latter will begin to operate in a semi-dynamic fashion rather than the previously fixed 20% annual percentage yield (APY).
Related Reading | Terra Price Continues Moving North; How Soon Will It Cross 0?
With a massive shift in the protocol’s reward mechanism, the new models aim at making Anchor “more sustainable”. As a result, users started earning an 18% APY as of yesterday, May 1. The earn rate will be modified each month for the foreseeable future.
The team behind this Terra project said the following via their official Twitter account:
The Anchor Earn rate adjusts dynamically by up to 1.5% each month based on if the yield reserve appreciated or depreciated. The floor is 15% APY & the ceiling is 20% APY.
The changes in Anchor’s earn rate are triggered by the protocol’s yield reserve. A .25% modification in this element will be followed by an adjustment in the Earn Rate.
This shift in the Terra protocol was approved, via Proposition 20, on March 24 this year. At the time, Anchor Protocol said:
The addition of a semi-dynamic Earn rate will contribute to the long-term sustainability of Anchor & will benefit users of the protocol by enabling yield reserve growth while continuing to provide an attractive yield on UST.
As seen below, the total borrowed versus total deposits on Anchor shows significant divergence. This is why the yield reserves on the protocol trend to the downside, especially in times of bearish price action on larger cryptocurrencies.
Source: Anchor Protocol
Some of the users believe that this trend could trigger a deppeging event for UST which could jeopardize the entire Terra ecosystem. The introduction of a semi-dynamic rate is the first step to avoiding this possibility.
Terra Is Not The Most Attractive Venue For Stablecoin Yield?
Some users believe that the new earn rate might not be enough and have been suggesting the implementation of investment strategies that can contribute to the yield reserves. Another part of the community seems focused on increasing the borrowing rate at Anchor.
However, as the chart above shows, deposits on the Terra protocol have been trending to the upside at a fast pace. In the meantime, the number of borrows has been moving sideways with a slight uptick in recent months.
Over the same period, other network launched their own stablecoins with alternatives to Anchor. NEAR and TRON stand out because of the hype and the APY that they are offering to their users.
TRON seems to have the largest incentives as it provides depositors with a 30% APY. Like Terra users with Anchor, many wonder if those rewards will be sustainable.
Related Reading | Terra Users Heads Up, Why NEAR May Launch Native Stablecoin With A 20% APR
At the time of writing, Terra (LUNA) trades at with a 6% profit in 24-hours.
LUNA is on an upward trend on the daily chart. Source: LUNAUSDT Tradingview
NewsBTC
Conquering Terrain: Terra’s Stablecoin UST Is Now Crypto’s Third Biggest
Terra’s US dollar-pegged algorithmic cryptocurrency UST is moving up the ladder and now ranks third in terms of overall market capitalization.
Today, the fast-growing Terra USD (UST) stablecoin from the Terra ecosystem passed another pivotal point, reaching a market valuation of more over billion.
As of Tuesday, UST had eclipsed the BSC-based stablecoin BUSD in market capitalization by more than million.
UST was operations in September 2020. To mint an equivalent amount of UST, a user must burn a reserve asset such as Terra (LUNA).
UST Making Headlines
This year, the Terra blockchain network has been the talk of the crypto world. Following its participation in the broader market downturn over the weekend, Terra’s native cryptocurrency LUNA has had the highest 24-hour bounce.
Terra (LUNA) is currently trading 15% higher at , with a market valuation of billion. Terra has surpassed Cardano’s ADA to become the eighth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap as a result of this development.
As of this writing, the leading stablecoin is Tether (USDT), which has a market cap of billion. USD Coin (USDC) is ranked second with a market cap of nearly billion.
Suggested Reading | Terra (LUNA) Outperforms Popular Cryptos Ether, Dogecoin In The Past 24 Hours
LUNA total market cap at .10 billion on the daily chart | Source: TradingView.com
UST is formed by burning a single terra (LUNA), the Terra network’s original crypto currency.
Other sorts of decentralized stablecoin projects, such as Makerdao’s DAI, rely on an over-collateralization procedure to maintain the token’s peg to the dollar.
The value of Terra’s stablecoin UST has increased exponentially during the last 509 days, or 16 months.
Additionally, recent data indicates that UST has been on a stratospheric rise since mid-November, with the market cap jumping by 525 percent.
Lower Trade Volume
Despite outperforming BUSD in terms of market capitalization, UST trades at a far lower volume compared to its immediate competition, with Binance’s stablecoin witnessing .25 billion in trading volume over the last 24 hours compared to UST’s 1.78 million.
On the other hand, Terra has recently made headlines for its Bitcoin acquisition. The Luna Foundation Guard (LFG), its parent organization, has acquired approximately 30,000 BTC to act as a peg and reserve for its UST stablecoin.
But, it has a lot going on behind the scenes. LFG intends to acquire a total of 410 billion dollars’ worth of Bitcoin.
However, similar to the broader crypto market in recent months, bullish pronouncements are doing nothing to boost the price of LUNA.
The token’s price has fallen 12.5% in the last 30 days to .30, and it has also retreated 34.3 percent since reaching an all-time high of 9.18 on April 5.
Suggested Reading | Bitcoin Clings To K On Easter Sunday As Crypto Seen To Head Lower In The Short Term
Featured image from Cryptonary, chart from TradingView.com
NewsBTC
Inside Terra’s $2.38 Billion Reserves, What Made The Lineup?
Terra (LUNA) has been aggressive about filling up its reserves with trusted cryptocurrencies to serve as a backup for its stablecoin UST. This has evolved over time to include a number of various cryptocurrencies that now make up its reserves sitting at .38 billion. This is still a long way from where the Luna Foundation plans for its reserves to be, making it a work in progress. In this report, we take a look at these reserve currencies and the portion allocated to each one.
Diving Into Terra’s Reserves
As mentioned previously, Terra’s crypto reserves have gone up to as high as .38 billion since it first announced it was starting the reserves. Luna Foundation Guard has been putting more money into its Bitcoin reserves, which it plans to get to at least billion in BTC with time. This makes the pioneer cryptocurrency the largest of the holdings in this regard. Although there are other cryptocurrencies that mark the lineup, bringing the total to four.
Related Reading | ADA To Rebound With Integration Of USDT And USDC On Cardano?
Following behind Bitcoin are the ERC-20 tokens which combined make up the second-largest percentage of the reserves at 23.2%. These are both stablecoins USDC and USDT, coming out to a total of 9.80 million of these tokens serving as reserves for USDT.
Additionally, Terra’s native token, Luna, also makes the list of reserves used by the network. It accounts for 7.2% of all reserves with a dollar figure of 2.20 million and a total token balance of 2.25 million Luna tokens.
The foundation recently purchased an additional 123.89 BTC to add to its reserves bringing its total to 42.53K BTC. This put Bitcoin in the large majority at 69.6% of all reserves, coming out to a total dollar value of .66 billion.
Where’s AVAX?
Last week, it was announced that Terra would add AVAX to its reserves as a way to combat the rising competition. This came as a result of a collaboration between Avalanche Foundation, Terraform Labs, and the Luna Foundation Guard who had said they would be purchasing about 0 million worth of AVAX to add to its reserves.
Related Reading | Bitcoin Clings To K On Easter Sunday As Crypto Seen To Head Lower In The Short Term
Do Kwon, founder of Terra, had explained that the decision to add AVAX to Terra’s reserves had been fueled by the loyalty to the network. However, a look at LFG’s reserves shows that there is no AVAX in sight. This could easily mean that the foundation is yet to add AVAX to its reserves.
However, per the deal with Avalanche Foundation, both the Avalanche Foundation and Terraform Labs currently hold 0 million worth of AVAX each, while the Avalanche Foundation now holds 0 million worth of LUNA and 0 million worth of UST.
Featured image from CryptoSlate, chart from TradingView.com
NewsBTC
Terra’s UST Becomes First Decentralized Stablecoin To Surpass $10B Market Cap
It’s safe to say that DeFi is booming lately – and Terra’s stablecoin UST has swiftly emerged as a powerhouse player in DeFi, swimming among of sea of centralized tokens such as Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC.
DeFi is wholeheartedly embracing UST, and new protocol integrations are popping up faster than most can keep up with, leading UST to surpass decentralized competitor DAI.
Let’s take a look at the recent growth for Terra and UST, and what we can expect from the stablecoin – and the broader Terra Luna ecosystem – looking forward.
Terra’s On A Tear Lately…
First and foremost, UST has been gaining substantial traction from more casual stablecoin holders who want to maximize their yield potential while balancing platform risk. Terra’s Anchor Protocol has served as a tool that many have turned to in recent months for exactly that; Anchor has offered a consistent ~19.5% continually compounding yield on UST while CeFi platforms like Celsius or BlockFi have been less aggressive in stablecoin rates (Celsius, for example, reduced it’s stablecoin yield rates in December from north of 10% to around 8.5%).
This has opened the door for moderate-risk stablecoin holders to give Anchor a try. Just take a look at the growth in recent months from both depositors and borrowers on the Anchor Protocol platform:
Related Reading | Billionaire Ricardo Salinas: Forget Fiat, Buy Bitcoin Instead
New Integrations
New platform and protocol integrations have been rolling out at a rapid pace. Our team at NewsBTC covered a deep-dive this week around the NEAR Protocol’s support of UST, and Binance rang in the holiday week last week with new UST support for BTC, USDT, and BUSD trading pairs.
Additionally, UST continues to find new protocol integration across the traditional DeFi landscape: chatter has been abundant around Abracadabra.Money’s new “degenbox,” a yield-generating strategy that allows user’s to leverage their stablecoin UST with Abracadabra’s now infamous Magic Internet Money (MIM).
Of course, we can’t leave out Astroport, a Terra-native Automated Market Maker (AMM) that is in early stages – but has already fielded over B worth of capital inflows. These developments have led to Terra’s native platform token, LUNA, to reach record highs. LUNA incurs USD worth of burn with every UST minted, leading it to be an elastic (but lately, deflationary) token.
For more on Astroport and LUNA’s skyrocketing movement lately, check out NewsBTC’s report last week around exactly that. In all, if Q4 2021 is any indication, there’s plenty for LUNA holders, UST yield generators, and Terra Luna watchers alike to be excited about as we head into 2022.
Terra Luna’s LUNA token has seen substantial growth in December, in part fueled by greater adoption and integration of the UST token throughout DeFi protocols. | Source: LUNA-USD on TradingView.com
Related Reading | UAE Authorities Announce New Stringent Measures Against Crypto Scammers
Featured image from Pexels, Charts from TradingView.com
The writer of this content is not associated or affiliated with any of the parties mentioned in this article. This is not financial advice.
NewsBTC
Clicks and Bricks Strategy to Drive Korean Users to Terras Blockchain
Terra Blockchain’s CHAI dapp is rolling out a back-to-basics clicks and bricks growth strategy to boost retail adoption in South Korea.
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