Terra
Terra co-founder Do Kwon faces $57-million lawsuit in Singapore
Do Kwon, the co-founder of Terraform Labs who may be facing legal actions in South Korea and the United States, is the target of a lawsuit in Singapore along with the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG) and Terra founding member Nicholas Platias. In a lawsuit filed in Singapore’s high court on Sept. 23, 359 individuals allege Kwon, Platias, the LFG and Terra made fraudulent claims, including that Terra’s stablecoin, TerraUSD (UST) — now TerraUSD Classic (USTC) — was not “stable by design” and unable to maintain its U.S. dollar peg. The claimants are seeking compensation for roughly $57 million worth of “loss and damage” combined based on the value of UST tokens they purchased and held or sold amid the market downturn in May. They also request an order to pay for “aggravated damages.” According to ...
Interpol reportedly creates dedicated unit to fight crypto crimes
The International Criminal Police Organization is reportedly planning to strengthen its crackdown on cryptocurrency-related crimes by forming a dedicated division. Interpol, the world’s largest global police organization, has set up a special team in Singapore to help governments fight crimes involving virtual assets, the Indian news agency Business Standard reported on Oct. 17. Interpol made the announcement at a press conference ahead of its 90th general assembly in Delhi, which is to be attended by high-profile police officials from its 195 members from Oct. 18 until Oct. 21. According to Interpol secretary general Jürgen Stock, the absence of a legal framework for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) poses major challenges to law enforcement agencies. “Because very often...
Binance burns $1.8M in LUNC trading fees following community proposal
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced it completed the first burn of Terra Classic tokens’ trading fees in response to a community proposal from September. In an Oct. 3 update, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said the exchange had burned roughly $1.8 million worth of Terra Classic (LUNC) — formerly Terra (LUNA) — trading fees for LUNC/BUSD and LUNC/USDT spot and margin trading pairs. According to Binance, the burn included the equivalent of 1,863,213.47 Tether (USDT) — roughly 5.5 million LUNC. First LUNC burn, $1.8 million ish.https://t.co/b86RlCYqe3 — CZ Binance (@cz_binance) October 3, 2022 The exchange’s original announcement from Sept. 26 said the burns would be completed every Monday — making the next event on Oct. 10 — sending trading fees to a LUNC burn address. Many in the Terr...
WSJ: Terraform Labs claims case against Do Kwon is ‘highly politicized’
Terraform Labs, the company behind the development of the Terra (LUNA) blockchain said South Korea’s case against its co-founder Do Kwon has become political, alleging prosecutors expanded the definition of a security in response to public pressure. “We believe that this case has become highly politicized, and that the actions of the Korean prosecutors demonstrate unfairness and a failure to uphold basic rights guaranteed under Korean law,” a Terraform Labs spokesman said to The Wall Street Journal on Sept. 28. South Korean prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Kwon on Sept. 14 for violations of the countries capital markets laws, but Terraform Labs laid out a defense arguing Terra (now known as Terra Luna Classic (LUNC)) isn’t legally a security, meaning it isn’t covered by capital mar...
3 reasons why USDC stablecoin dropping below $50B market cap is Tether’s gain
The market capitalization of USD Coin (USDC), a stablecoin issued by U.S.-based payment tech firm Circle, has dropped below $50 billion for the first time since January 2022. On the weekly chart, USDC’s market cap, which reflects the number of U.S. dollar-backed tokens in circulation, fell to $49.39 billion on Sep. 26, down almost 12% from its record high of $55.88 billion, established merely three months ago. USDC versus USDT weekly market cap chart. Source: TradingView In contrast, the market cap of Tether (USDT), which risked losing its top stablecoin position to USDC in May, crossed above $68 billion on Sep. 26, albeit still down 17.4% from its record high of $82.33 billion in May 2022. The divergence between USDT and USDC shows investors’ renewed preference...
Breaking: Interpol ‘Red Notice’ issued for Do Kwon — South Korea prosecutors
Interpol has reportedly issued a “Red Notice” to law enforcement worldwide for the arrest of Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon. South Korean prosecutors in Seoul on Monday told Bloomberg the international policing organization issued the notice in response to charges Kwon faces in South Korea related to the collapse of the Terra ecosystem. The news comes only a week after South Korean prosecutors reportedly asked Interpol to issue a “Red Notice” for Kwon on Sept. 19. A Red notice is a “request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action” according to the Interpol website. It also comes less than two weeks after South Korean authorities issued an arrest warrant for Kwon and five other associates for alleged...
LUNC investors react to CZ’s 1.2% trading tax recommendation on Binance
The infamous collapse of the Terra ecosystem, which erased market prices of TerraUSD (UST) and LUNA tokens, continues to trouble anxious investors as co-founder Do Kwon, crypto exchanges and the community together tries to identify the best route for a sustainable price recovery. Most recently, Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, the CEO of crypto exchange Binance, recommended a flat 1.2% trading tax on LUNC trades that could be burned to reduce the token’s total supply and improve its price performance. Addressing the community, CZ stated: “We will implement an opt-in button (on the Binance exchange), for people to opt-in to pay a 1.2% tax for their LUNC trading.” However, the exchange would begin the taxation for opt-in traders following the consensus of 25% of the LUNC investors, making sure that earl...
South Korean authorities ask Interpol to issue ‘Red Notice’ for Do Kwon: Report
South Korean prosecutors have reportedly requested Interpol intervene in their case against Terra co-founder Do Kwon by issuing a “Red Notice” — suggesting global law enforcement agencies may attempt to find and detain him. According to a Monday report from the Financial Times, the Seoul Southern District prosecutors’ office said it had “begun the procedure” to place Kwon on Interpol’s Red Notice list following steps to revoke the Terra co-founder’s passport while he was in Singapore. Interpol’s website states that a Red Notice is requested by authorities “locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action,” but the agency cannot compel local law enforcement to arrest the subject of such notice. “We are doing our best to locate and ...
Terra co-founder Do Kwon says he’s not ‘on the run’
Do Kwon, the co-founder of the Terra ecosystem, took to Twitter on Saturday asserting he’s “not ‘on the run’ or anything similar” after the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said Kwon wasn’t in the city-state. On Sept. 14, South Korean authorities issued an arrest warrant for Kwon and five other associates for alleged violations of the country’s capital markets laws. All were known to be in Singapore at the time, with prosecutors also attempting to revoke their passports a day later on Sept. 15. “For any government agency that has shown interest to communicate, we are in full cooperation and we don’t have anything to hide,” Kwon tweeted. I am not “on the run” or anything similar – for any government agency that has shown interest to communicate, we are in full cooperation and we don’t hav...
Collapse of Terra blockchain ecosystem forces talent migration
At the height of the 2022 bull market, the Terra ecosystem was booming with talent and innovation. The native token of the Terra blockchain had made its way to the top-10 cryptocurrencies by total market capitalization. Protocols were building the next iteration of a super cycle that seemed like it would never end. Terraform Labs created Terra amid the crypto market crash of 2018 and built it all through the bear market. The Terra ecosystem’s main appeal and claim for glory came from their offer of the best yields in decentralized finance (DeFi), with up to 20% yield on its stablecoin through the Anchor protocol. As of March 2022, Terra had a total of 73 projects built in the ecosystem. The ambition of the team was to onboard at least 87 more projects by the end of the year. Terra wa...
Terra back from the dead? LUNA price rises 300% in September
Terra has become a controversial blockchain project after the collapse of its native token LUNA and stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) in May. But its recent gains are hard to ignore for cryptocurrency traders. LUNA rising from the dead? After crashing to nearly zero in May, LUNA is now trading for around $6, a whopping 17,559,000% price rally in less than four months when measured from its lowest level. Meanwhile, LUNA’s performance in September is particularly interesting, given it has rallied by more than 300% month-to-date after a long period of sideways consolidation. LUNA/USDT daily price chart. Source: TradingView Terra ecosystem in September It is vital to note that LUNA also trades with the ticker LUNA2 across multiple exchanges. In detail, Terraform Labs, the firm behind...
Here’s why Terra Classic price has soared by 250% in September
Terra Classic (LUNC) has outperformed all top-ranking cryptocurrencies so far in September gaining nearly 100% in the past seven days alone. Terra Classic outperforms crypto market The token surged more than 250% month-to-date to reach $0.000594 on Sep. 8, its best level on record. Whereas Bitcoin (BTC), dropped 4%, and Ether (ETH) gained only 3.5% in the same period. The profits in the Terra Classic market appeared despite its association with the defunct Terra (LUNA) token, a $40 billion project that collapsed in May. Terra Classic is a rebranded version of the same Terra project and thus has been the subject of skepticism from analysts and investors since its debut. But traders have ignored such warnings in recent weeks, with a flurry of fundamental catalysts influencing them to purchas...
