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Hong Kong-Based Chiron VC Raises $50M for Launching Terra Ecosystem Fund

One of Asia’s biggest Venture Capital firms, Chiron Partners, has launched a $50 million ecosystem fund christened the Chiron Terra Fund I (CTI), aimed at supporting innovative projects that are emerging from the Terra blockchain ecosystem.

The firm announced that the CTI will support the projects. In addition, the Fund will involve in decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFT), and metaverse related initiatives. The primary motivation behind the massive investment is to reposition Chiron Partners as one of the committed accelerators of developing promising, disruptive, and emerging technologies.

“We’re thrilled to have Chiron Partners join the booming Terra ecosystem as a valuable resource to help equip ecosystem projects and builders with capital, strategic expertise, and other guidance,” says Do Kwon, Co-Founder and CEO of Terraform Labs.

Terra is a high-performing blockchain hinged on using fiat pegged stablecoins to power global payment systems. In a bullish move to support the growth of the innovative projects emerging on the Terra ecosystem, the protocol raised a $150 million fund from renowned venture capitalists back in July to support these projects. These funding models similarly move from competing blockchains, including Avalanche and the Binance Smart Chain, respectively.

Furthermore, Terra recently completed its Columbus-5 upgrade, significantly improving scalability and enhancing network interoperability. From here, as many as 160 projects are on track to make their way to the Terra ecosystem as from Q1 2022.

“The Terra ($LUNA) ecosystem’s growth potential, particularly after the latest Columbus-5 upgrade and announcements on Risk Harbour insurance wrapped protection, is limitless,” said Jake Cormack, Founding Partner and COO of Chiron Partners.

The positivity surrounding the Terra ecosystem is highly reflective in the native digital currency LUNA, which has surged over 13,000% in the Year-to-Date period, according to data from data analytics platform, Coingecko.

DeFi Growth Outlook for 2021: From $18.71B to $258.58B

New milestones were achieved across the digital currency ecosystem in 2021, a growth that was translated into Decentralized Finance (DeFi) sub-niche.

According to data from DeFiLlama, the DeFi ecosystem, encompassing the top blockchain networks saw a massive growth surge from $18.71 billion in Total Value Locked (TVL) as of January 1 this year to $258.58 billion it is pegged at as of today.

This growth pace which represented a 1,282% upshot within the space of 12 months showcases the increasing advances in the DeFi world. New projects emerged in the digital currency ecosystem that heralded the emergence of several innovative DApps and smart contracts.

The DeFiLlama data showcases the split in various protocols that make up the DeFi ecosystem. Curve Finance takes the largest cut in the pie with over $23.4 billion in TVL across multiple networks. Ethereum centred Convex Finance and MakerDAO occupy the second and third positions with $19.36 billion and $19.18 billion respectively.

Over the course of the past year, three major protocols, Solana, Avalanche, and Terra have all surmounted expectations with the pace at which new smart contracts are proliferated on their platforms. The protocols themselves have also impressed investors with their offerings, further boosting the overall adoption across the board.

Apart from Ethereum-focused protocols, Anchor Finance, a Terra native money market service provider occupies the 10th position as the largest contributor to the broader DeFi TVL with $8.98 billion in TVL.

The digital currency ecosystem has seen a fair number of trends come and go since its inception, and despite its newness, the sub-niche is still showing great potential for future growth. The broader cryptocurrency industry has recorded a massive correction this year, and this has in no way impacted the growth rate of the DeFi ecosystem. This amongst other pointers with backing data showcases the DeFi world is on track to record even greater growth in the near future.

Top 3 Coins to Watch this Week: BTC, LUNA, and MANA

The digital currency ecosystem has been experiencing a bullish plunge for the better part of the year, with the global crypto market capitalization plunging well below the $2 trillion benchmarks.

While the ongoing price correction is more pronounced with Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and the altcoins in the top 10 of crypto rankings, the entire market ecosystem has felt the brunt of the dip.

With the market still looking weak, here are the top three coins to pay attention to this week.

Bitcoin (BTC)

Amidst this ongoing price plunge, Bitcoin has dropped to $40,672.28, its lowest price level in a month, and while it is currently changing hands at $41,958.54, it is still 39.51% below its All-Time High (ATH) price of $68,789.63.

Bitcoin remains the most hyped coin by institutional investors. While many of these investors might have shed their coin holdings to balance out their books for the past quarter and End of the Year, many investors may be poised to start taking their positions with Bitcoin once again. Many altcoins are highly correlated with Bitcoin, and a lot of traders will keep an eye on the premier digital currency’s performance this week.

Terra (LUNA)

Terra is an embodiment of a very functional smart contract platform with its own uniqueness. The blockchain protocol functions work by combining the borderless benefits of cryptocurrencies with the day-to-day price stability of fiat currencies. While Terra might have been affected by the ongoing correction, the coin has outperformed its peers in the past month and is currently trading at $71.82, a price point well above its 30-day low of $52.38.

As a high-performing Decentralized Finance platform, LUNA is poised to help fuel the resurgence within its niche and is worth watching for the week.

Decentraland (MANA)

On the other hand, Decentraland (MANA) is a blockchain protocol that is positioned to facilitate a quicker emergence of the metaverse-driven future. Decentraland defines itself as a virtual reality platform powered by the Ethereum blockchain that allows users to create, experience, and monetize content and application.

Last week, tech giant Samsung Electronics America announced that it opened its 837x store on Decentraland, marking a similar stride the protocol has recorded in the past months. MANA represents a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) platform that sees a broad embraced by retail, institutional and global brands alike. Its native token, currently changing hands $2.93 may pull some stunts this week in response to the crop of good news it has recorded thus far.

New Week New Hurdles: Top 3 Altcoins to Watch This Week

It was a gory weekend for a number of altcoins as the digital currency ecosystem took another downward slide. Investors chose to stay away from risky assets in the wake of the Russian-Ukrainian brawl. The global cryptocurrency market cap slid 3.99% at the time of writing to $1.74 trillion, paring off the gains accrued in the past week.

Amidst the bearish slump, three tokens are under review, including Binance Coin (BNB), LooksRare (LOOK), and Terra (LUNA) have inherent utilities and a competitive market advantage that can help them stay resilient amidst the ongoing bearish slump.

Binance Coin (BNB)

Binance Coin is still the fourth-largest digital currency by market capitalization; a figure was pegging at $62.97 billion at the time of writing. BNB is a strategically positioned coin, active as the native token of the Binance Exchange as well as the utility coin of the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) network. By default, the coin is typically under high demand, an inherent advantage that can easily spark a resurgence in the price breakout of the digital currency. BNB was changing hands at $379.22, down 4.65% during the intraday. With the broad ecosystem activities slated for this week, BNB is on track to retest the $400 resistance in the coming days.

LooksRare (LOOK)

LooksRare is an emerging Non-Fungible Token (NFT) marketplace that intends to dethroning OpenSea. Powered by the LOOKS token, the ecosystem is in a pole position to benefit from the woes of the bigger trading platform. The LOOKS token hit it off with retail NFT traders at its debut, swiftly attaining an ATH of $7.07. While the token has tracked back its gains, it is poised to make a relatively faster recovery from its current price of as many NFT stakeholders are bound to explore the platform more for its incentives and the persistent hacks being suffered by OpenSea.

Terra (LUNA)

Terra is a Layer-1 blockchain protocol that aids the fast performance of smart contracts and decentralized protocols. LUNA was trading at a price of $48.80. Since the beginning of the year, the LUNA token has taken a massive beating amidst the persistent bearish slump. Terra represents an innovative protocol that uses fiat-pegged stablecoins to power price-stable global payments systems. Its usefulness is proliferating, and this has placed a corresponding demand on LUNA, a trend that can spark a recovery in the altcoin this week.

Top 3 Altcoins With the Biggest Gains for the Week: LUNA, ANC & WAVES

The past week has been a very challenging one for the global digital currency ecosystem as a number of bearish moves were experienced in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces. As expected, the geopolitical tension stirred a very massive selloff in the broader financial ecosystem with cryptocurrencies, led by Bitcoin (BTC) responding in tandem.

While the global crypto market capitalization plunged to a low of $1.57 trillion, a number of altcoins maintained an impressive growth outlook over the trailing 7-days period. This article is a review of the top highest earners for the week.

Terra (LUNA)

Terra is one of the most elite of altcoins that has soared by more than 51% in the past week. The network’s native token, LUNA, was changing hands at $74.83, rising from a low of $48.59 in the week, following the unprecedented Russia-induced market meltdown.

With Terra’s prowess hinged on its unique capabilities as a blockchain protocol that uses fiat-pegged stablecoins to power price-stable global payments systems, its innovative products and services are bound to see additional growth in the coming week. Much observation has to be placed on Terra to see how well investors will push the coin’s price in the advent of a broad market resurgence.

Anchor Protocol (ANC)

Anchor Protocol is a lending and borrowing protocol on the Terra blockchain and the 29th project on Binance Launchpool. The protocol is the biggest decentralized finance protocol on the Terra Blockchain. It has risen to prominence amongst its competitors as it gives a low volatility interest rate of up to 19%.

Anchor Protocol is arguably the biggest gainer amongst the top 100 digital currencies, with a gain of 72.10% in the past 24 hours at the time of writing. While the token was trading at $3.77, Anchor Protocol has a lot of potentials to grow some more in the coming weeks as investors consider savings in the network one of the best options available amidst the uncertainties rocking global financial markets.

Waves (WAVES)

Unlike other profiled altcoins, WAVES resisted the plunge in the digital currency ecosystem in the past week and has been printing a bullish uptrend since February 24, undeterred by the sentimental selloffs the Russian invasion spiked.

Changing hands at $11.93, WAVES has recorded a 22.79% growth in the past week as it has pared off some of its gains. However, WAVES remains one of the altcoins to watch despite the coin begging for immediate correction.

Terra Founder Do Kwon Agrees to $1M Bet on the Future Price of LUNA

What better way is it for a startup’s founder to spend his money than for him to bet on the success of his project? This could be tagged as the case of Do Kwon, the founder of Terraform Labs, the blockchain startup in charge of the Terra blockchain and LUNA coin.

Do Kwon has just accepted a $1 million bet from a Twitter user named Sensei Algod, a self-proclaimed semi-retired degen who believes the price of LUNA is going to be much lower by this time next year.

Algod announced the challenge through his Twitter account saying, “Who wants to take a $1000000 bet that $luna will be lower price in 1 year than now?” and specifically tagging Do Kwon and other prominent figures in the ecosystem. Kwon simply accepted the challenge saying “Cool, I’m in.”

The daring bet has gotten tongues wagging not just because of the amount involved but also because of the Terra platform’s seemingly impressive positivity in today’s crypto ecosystem.

Terra is a blockchain protocol that uses fiat-pegged stablecoins to power price-stable global payments systems. According to its white paper, the protocol combines the price stability and wide adoption of fiat currencies with the censorship-resistance of Bitcoin (BTC) and offers fast and affordable settlements.

Based on its features and the superiority of the transactions it facilitates, the Terra ecosystem has seen over $25.33 billion in Total Value Locked (TVL) hosting innovative protocols like Anchor Protocol, Lido, and Astroport, amongst others. The platform’s LUNA coin has also recorded a relatively high and astronomical growth amidst the current market drip. The coin is trading for $91.34, down by just 13.14% from its All-Time High (ATH) of $104.58 inked about 6 days ago.

The increasing demand on LUNA based on the ecosystem built around it has made many projects a more ambitious price target for the coin, and in 12 months we would find out who wins the bet the way Mike Novogratz won a bet of 0.5 BTC on President Joe Biden’s election bet back in 2020.

Terra Expands Stablecoin Reserve by Purchasing $100m worth of Avalanche Tokens

The Luna Foundation Guard (“LFG”), primarily focused on the Terra blockchain, expands its TerraUSD (“UST”) stablecoin reserve by purchasing $100 million worth of Avalanche tokens.

The native token of the Avalanche blockchain becomes the second-largest asset in the UST reserve after the Bitcoin token.

Terra is a blockchain protocol that uses fiat-pegged stablecoins to power price-stable global payments systems, which includes TerraUSD (“UST”) – the flagship stablecoin of the Terra network and the leading decentralized stablecoin in DeFi by market cap

Terra’s UST stablecoin, backed by bitcoin tokens, could eventually reach $10 billion, the company said. To strengthen the ability of Terra’s UST stablecoin to be pegged to U.S. dollar fiat, the company added $230 million in bitcoin on Wednesday, following an injection of more than $1 billion in bitcoin in January.

Emin Gün Sirer, CEO of The Ava Labs said that:

“Terra’s ability to scale their stablecoins is one of the reasons that drew Avalanche to its platform.”

Do Kwon, the founder of Terraform Labs, the blockchain startup in charge of the Terra blockchain and LUNA coin, said Bitcoin will remain the “primary backer” for the UST stablecoin, but the deal with Avalanche “buys Avalanche’s UST and Terra a lot of user familiarity.”

As reported by blockchain.News on December 9, 2021, one of Asia’s biggest Venture Capital firms, Chiron Partners, has launched a $50 million ecosystem fund christened the Chiron Terra Fund I (CTI), aimed at supporting innovative projects that are emerging from the Terra blockchain ecosystem.

Fireblocks Adds Support for Terra-Based DeFi Services as Institutional Demand Soars

Institutional investors can now access all of the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) applications on the Terra blockchain protocol on Fireblocks, as announced by the firm on Tuesday.

According to Fireblocks, its broad-based corporate clients have sent as much as $500 million through to the Terra blockchain since mid-April when early access to the dApps was opened.

“Terra is a pioneer in the programmable stablecoin category and is underpinning one of the largest DeFi ecosystems in the world. Adding support for Terra on Fireblocks will give thousands of businesses and financial institutions the ability to securely interact with the dApps, money markets, liquidity protocols, and more that are powered by the public blockchain protocol,” said Michael Shaulov, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Fireblocks.

Terra is recognized as the second-largest DeFi protocol in terms of Total Value Locked (TVL), boasting as much as $29.47 billion, according to data from DeFiLlama. Designed initially as a stablecoin launching protocol, Terra has become the favourite hub for retail crypto investors, a category of investors that has helped bolster the innovative offerings of the blockchain’s native DApps, including Anchor, Lido, and AstroPort amongst others.

With direct access opened up to institutional investors through the Fireblocks platform, expectations mount that the Terra network will expand its reach across the board.

“We’re excited to be partnering with Fireblocks to enable DeFi on Terra for institutions. We’ve chosen to work with Fireblocks first as thousands of businesses already trust Fireblocks’ digital asset and crypto custody technology and use it daily to tap into the world of DeFi. Adding support for Terra on Fireblocks’ platform will greatly expand the transaction volume and activity in the Terra ecosystem. We look forward to welcoming this new community,” Matt Cantieri, General Manager.

Back in January this year, Fireblocks raised $500 million to make its platform the hub for institutional investors to connect to the growing DeFi world. Thus far, the unicorn, now valued at $8 billion, can be said to be living up to its potential.

Terra Erases 12 Months Bullish Gains with 94% Drop in Value

The Terra community is almost in disarray as the ecosystem’s two flagship tokens, including LUNA and UST are on a freefall amid the most bearish sentiment the blockchain protocol has ever seen.

While the algorithmic UST stablecoin has completely lost its peg against the US Dollar, trading at $0.7158 at the time of writing, the stablecoin dropped as low as $0.2998 during the intra-day trading.

LUNA on the hand has shed off all of the gains it has accrued over the past 12 months as it slumped to its 52-weeks low of $0.8384. The fall of the LUNA comes off as a bigger surprise to the crypto world as such a plunge is uncommon, especially for an established blockchain protocol that attained its All-Time High (ATH) of $119.18 barely a month ago.

In his explanation of the cause of the current situation, Do Kwon, the founder of the Terra blockchain protocol said in a tweet that “the price stabilization mechanism is absorbing UST supply (over 10% of total supply), but the cost of absorbing so much stablecoins at the same time has stretched out the on-chain swap spread to 40%, and Luna price has diminished dramatically absorbing the arbs.”

While he did not discount the challenges the next couple of weeks will bring while trying to rebuild the protocol, he promised to be there every step of the way.

Yet, crypto experts believe that the crash of UST would stablecoins are still valuable by playing robust roles in the volatile market.

“It’s important now to acknowledge that Terra is a so-called algorithmic stablecoin, not directly backed by USD. The most popular stable coins like Tether (USDT) and USDC are actually backed by USD in the bank and both of those survived yesterday’s market sell-off well,” Ransu Salovaara, CEO at Likvidi, said.

“The de-pegging will likely result in a substantial regulatory risk – if not for the whole crypto space, then certainly for the stablecoins market. Anto Paroian.” said Chief Operating Officer, at crypto/digital asset hedge fund ARK36.

The promise of Kwon is a very significant one in the broad attempt to return LUNA and UST back to their glory days. While investors are currently doubtful of the next path for the two digital currencies, the scenario playing out now is different from those of Sushiswap when the founder, Chef Nomi rug pulled that he sold off his SUSHI tokens.

Sam Bankman-Fried took over the project at the time and helped it regain its balance. Do Kwon said he is still committed to the recovery of the LUNA tokens and this should come off as good news to those looking to hold the coins for much longer.

“Terra’s return to form will be a sight to behold. We’re here to stay. And we’re gonna keep making noise,” he tweeted.

Bitcoin Hits a 16-Month Low of $26K as Effects of the Terra Crash Spill Over

Bitcoin (BTC) nosedived to lows of $26,595, a scenario not seen since Dec 30, 2020, when the leading cryptocurrency dropped below the $27,000 zone.

Even though Bitcoin had regained momentum to hit $27,769 during intraday trading, the top crypto continues to limp based on factors like Fed’s interest rate hike and the Terra crash.

TerraUSD (UST) and Luna (LUNA) are two tokens mainly supported by the Terra network, a blockchain project developed by South Korean-based Terra Labs.

LUNA sent shockwaves to the crypto market because it collapsed to nearly zero in just a day.

Source: TradingView

LUNA was previously one of the largest cryptocurrencies based on more than $40 billion in market capitalization. It had shed off 97% of its value in the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap.

Terra’s UST was also not spared because it fell to lows of $0.225 this week despite it being the third largest stablecoin globally after Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC). Market insight provider IntoTheBlock noted:

“As the stablecoin UST fell to $0.225 overnight, the number of transactions happening reached a new high, representing a 13x increase against the previous 2 days. Investors are rushing to sell their UST positions.”

Source: IntoTheBlock

Despite UST recovering to $0.63 during intraday trading, it is still below the expected $1peg.

Therefore, Bitcoin is still suffering from the receiving end based on the shockwaves triggered by intensified liquidation of UST and LUNA.

Moreover, the leading cryptocurrency faces additional pressure because the Luna Foundation Guard intends to revive UST by selling its BTC reserves worth $3 billion.

Nevertheless, as Bitcoin continues to trade in the extreme fear territory, time will tell how it plays out in the short term because events of intense fear are often followed by bullish momentum.