Share this article
Terra’s LUNA Surges 17% as UST Becomes Third-Largest Stablecoin
Terra has also purchased record amounts of Convex tokens in the past month, research found.
Updated May 11, 2023, 5:29 p.m. Published Apr 19, 2022, 7:23 a.m.
Make us preferred on Google
Terra’s LUNA outperformed the wider crypto market with a 17% bump in the past 24 hours, pushing prices to over $90 in Asian hours on Tuesday.
- LUNA pushed past the $80-$82 mark, a pivot support level, to as much as $92.07 during early Asian hours. Profit-taking saw prices fall to $89 at writing time, another support level for the token. The move comes after a nearly 37% drop in the first two weeks of April following lifetime highs of $120 earlier this month.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
- LUNA is a governance token for money market protocol Terra. The spike comes as Terra's algorithmic stablecoin UST toppled Binance USD (BUSD) to become the third-largest stablecoin by circulation, during the later hours of Monday.
- Terra also became the largest buyer of Convex’s CVX token over the past 30 days with over $17 million in purchases, according to research firm Delphi Digital.
- Convex is a protocol that allows users to earn fees without locking their CRV, the token of the decentralized lending project Curve. Fees earned on Terra’s deposits are distributed among Terra users.
1/ @Terra_money has been a huge accumulator of $CVX, growing to be the largest CVX held by a DAO in 4 months.
— Delphi Digital (@Delphi_Digital) April 18, 2022
Over the past 30 days, they have accumulated around 649k of CVX, pushing them ahead of @FraxFinance to be the largest DAO holders of CVX. pic.twitter.com/zjEEEBF4ZJ
- Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies pegged to fiat currencies, usually the U.S. dollar, with each token backed by an equivalent amount of fiat in reserve. Algorithmic stablecoins like UST take this one step ahead and can be backed by a basket of assets, such as bitcoin , without depending on any centralized third party to hold those assets.
- In February, major crypto funds led by Jump Crypto invested $1 billion in the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG), a Singapore-based nonprofit that aims to maintain UST’s peg by purchasing several assets as reserve backing.
- LFG has since purchased bitcoin, Avalanche’s AVAX, other stablecoins, data shows, with Terra also donating 10 million LUNA, worth $890 million at current prices, last week. The reserves currently sit at $2.48 billion at the time of writing, with 69% held in bitcoin.
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
Gold tops $5,000 as bitcoin stalls near $87,000 in widening macro-crypto split: Asia Morning Briefing
Bitcoin’s onchain data points to supply overhang and weak participation, while gold’s breakout is priced by markets as a durable macro regime shift.
What to know:
- Gold’s surge above $5,000 an ounce is increasingly seen as a durable regime shift, with investors treating the metal as a persistent hedge against geopolitical risk, central bank demand and a weaker dollar.
- Bitcoin is stuck near $87,000 in a low-conviction market, as on-chain data show older holders selling into rallies, newer buyers absorbing losses and a heavy supply overhang capping moves toward $100,000.
- Derivatives and prediction markets point to continued consolidation in bitcoin and sustained strength in gold, with thin futures volumes, subdued leverage and weak demand for higher-beta crypto assets like ether reinforcing the cautious tone.
Top Stories
