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Terra Classic USD (USTC) experienced a remarkable 157.97% price surge in just 24 hours, reaching approximately $0.04078, with a significant increase in trading volume. Terra Classic (LUNC) also saw a 21% price rise during the same period. These gains could be attributed to recent developments by Terra, including plans to integrate the FeeShare module, which aims to reward contributors to the Terra network. Additionally, Terraform Labs injected $15 million into the ecosystem to enhance liquidity for assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum on its decentralized exchanges. Despite positive developments, Terra's founder, Do Kwon, remains entangled in legal battles with the U.S. SEC and faces legal challenges in multiple jurisdictions.
USTC Price Up More Than 150%
Over the past 24 hours, USTC was one of the top trending cryptocurrencies after its price shot up by 157.97% in just one day of trading. This meant that the former stablecoin was worth about $0.04078 at press time.
USTC’s intraday volume also surged by over 2,000% since yesterday, causing it to rise to around $691.21 million. Its positive price performance throughout the past 24 hours also pushed its weekly performance up even more to around +207.81%.
Terra Classic Price Surges as Well
Daily chart for LUNC/USDT (Source: TradingView)
LUNC was also a hot topic after its price managed to increase by more than 21% throughout the past 24 hours. This meant that the token was worth about $0.00009453 at press time. This was after it managed to set a high price of $0.0001048. LUNC reached its all time high (ATH) price of $119.18 in April of 2022, but it has since retraced by over 100% to trade at its current level.
Terra Takes Important Step Forward
It is very likely that some new developments by Terra could be breathing new life into the prices of both LUNC and USTC. At the start of November, the Terra team announced in an X post that, following the approval of the TFL Community Grant proposal on Oct. 25, they have initiated the voting process for the proposal to integrate the FeeShare module into Terra.
The FeeShare module aims to reward teams contributing to the Terra network by sharing a portion of the on-chain transaction fees. After implementation, 50% of the transaction fees generated by Terra smart contracts will be allocated to the contract owners, while the remaining 50% will go to LUNA stakers.
Additionally, until January 2025, Terraform Labs will calculate the fees generated by Terra smart contracts and match 50% of the collected fees in stablecoins, which will be distributed to the addresses specified by the contract owners. This will allow teams to receive 75% of the on-chain fees generated. It is, however, still important to keep in mind that the fee-sharing module is still just a proposal and will only be approved with strong support from the community.
$15 Million Capital Boost
Another factor that could be attracting the attention of traders is the fact that Terraform Labs, the startup behind Terra (LUNA), has injected about $15 million in capital into the ecosystem to enhance liquidity for larger assets like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). This capital injection was directed specifically towards Astroport and Ura, which are the decentralized exchanges (DEXs) within the Terra community. The deployment of capital was distributed among 11 pools on both Astroport and Ura, but Terraform Labs plans to disburse even more funds to its protocols in the future.
The Terra (LUNA) protocol had a cold start challenge before now but the capital injection solves this problem very easily. This injection addresses the issue by ensuring there is more than enough liquidity available for users to purchase and trade prominent assets. It also creates opportunities for developers to build robust and exciting Decentralized Finance (DeFi) applications on top of these assets.
To maximize the benefits of this new liquidity injection, Terraform Labs is also actively forming partnerships with various projects. They have even extended an open invitation to teams interested in harnessing blue-chip liquidity for building DeFi solutions on the Terra (LUNA) platform.
This capital infusion is a huge milestone for the Terra ecosystem, not only because of its very rocky past, but particularly as it aligns with a time when DEX aggregators are actively looking for the best platform to execute trades for their expanding user bases. In the coming weeks, it is highly likely that the Terra ecosystem will experience a notable increase in transaction volume, leading to higher yields for LUNA stakers. This is also already evident in the positive price performances of LUNC and USTC.
Do Kwon Still Tied up in Legal Battles
Terraform Labs founder and former CEO, Do Kwon , is still embroiled in a legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) related to the infamous depegging and subsequent collapse of the stablecoin USTC. This lawsuit was filed back in February, less than a year after the depegging incident. USTC's collapse resulted in multiple bankruptcies and revealed vulnerabilities within the now-failed FTX exchange empire, as seen in the trial of the former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.
In addition to the SEC lawsuit, Do Kwon is facing other legal troubles. He was indicted in March by a grand jury on charges of fraud, including wire fraud, securities fraud, and commodities fraud. Furthermore, South Korean authorities issued a warrant for his arrest in October of the previous year. Kwon now faces possible extradition to either the U.S. or South Korea after fulfilling a four-month sentence in Montenegro. Initially, the Montenegrin high court had denied his appeal following a March arrest related to forged travel documents. However, recent reports suggest that the High Court has now cleared the way for extradition, leaving the decision about Kwon's destination up to government authorities.