DeFi projects abandon Terra ecosystem after Terra crash

2022.05.17 13:49:34 | 2022.05.17 14:09:31

[Photo by Yonhap]À̹ÌÁö È®´ë

[Photo by Yonhap]

Korean IT companies are pulling out their decentralized finance (DeFi) blockchain-backed projects from the Terra ecosystem upon the stablecoin¡¯s collapse, raising concerns for additional investor losses from their closures.

THORChain (Rune), a DeFi project where investors can deposit Luna and its sister stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) and collect interest, has suspended withdrawal in line with Luna blockchain¡¯s temporary shutdown. THORChain¡¯s deposit is estimated at 250 billion won ($196 million) including a chunk of Korean investors¡¯ money.

THORChain is not alone in abandoning the Terra¡¯s ecosystem following the downfall of the digital tokens invented by a Korean national.

Com2us, a Korean video game developer operating blockchain game platform, last Friday announced it was switching its mainnet from Terra¡¯s as it stopped creating new blocks. Mainnet is a live blockchain for transferring a digital currency from a sender to a recipient.

CoinWalk, running a move-to-earn app that allows users to earn money by engaging in routine physical activities, also decided to transfer its mainnet.

Do Kwon, co-founder of stablecoins Luna and TerraUSD, on Monday proposed to hard fork Terra to revive the ecosystem. His plan is to abandon the algorithmic stablecoin and launch a new cryptocurrency in place of Luna. It is Kwon¡¯s second rescue plan since Terra¡¯s crash late last week. He previously proposed to restart the Terra blockchain network by distributing 1 billion new tokens to TerraUSD and Luna holders. But his proposal has met with pessimistic response from investors.

Luna is a digital token created by Kwon. It is tied to TerraUSD, a stablecoin designed to be pegged one-to-one with the U.S. dollar.

By Choi Keun-do and Cho Jeehyun

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