Terra (blockchain)

Terra is a blockchain protocol and payment platform used for algorithmic stablecoins. The project was created in 2018 by Terraform Labs, a startup co-founded by Do Kwon and Daniel Shin. It is most known for its Terra stablecoin and the associated Luna reserve asset cryptocurrency. In May 2022, the Terra blockchain was temporarily halted after the collapse of the stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) and Luna, in an event that wiped out almost $45 billion in market capitalisation within a week. Terra is a blockchain that leverages fiat-pegged stablecoins to power a payment system. For consensus the Terra blockchain uses a proof-of-stake codesign. Several stablecoins are built atop the Terra protocol, including TerraUSD, which was the third largest stablecoin by market capitalisation before its collapse in May 2022. The Terra blockchain has a fully-functional ecosystem of decentralized applications (or DApps), such as Anchor, Mirror, and Pylon, which utilised the stable-coin infrastructure of Terra. Terra is a group of algorithmic stablecoins, named according to the currencies to which they are pegged—for example, TerraUSD (UST) is pegged to the U.S. dollar. Luna serves as the primary backing asset for Terra, and is also used as a governance token for users to vote on Terra community proposals. UST stablecoins were not backed by U.S. dollars; instead, it was designed to maintain its peg through a complex model called a "burn and mint equilibrium". This method uses a two-token system, whereby one token is supposed to remain stable (UST) while the other token (LUNA) is meant to absorb volatility. The Anchor Protocol was a lending and borrowing protocol built on the Terra chain. Investors who deposited UST in the Anchor Protocol were receiving a 19.45% yield that was paid out from Terra's reserves. Due to such a high-yielding mechanism of the Anchor Protocol, some critics raised concerns that Kwon's stablecoin model could function like a "ginormous Ponzi scheme".