During early Friday trading sessions (ET), major cryptocurrencies posted gains, with Bitcoin jumping 9.4% to surpass the $21K zone and Ethereum rising 4.9% above $1,700. However, the standout performer was Terra's new LUNA 2.0 token, issued on the Phoenix blockchain, which surged more than 200% against the U.S. dollar in 24 hours. LUNA rallied from a low of $1.90 per unit to a high of $6.87 before retreating to the $5.41 range, still up 175% on the day.
LUNA 2.0 Price and Trading Volume Details
The rally brought LUNA's 14-day gains to 224.1%, with the token's overall market capitalization reaching approximately $978 million. Global trading volume for LUNA on Friday hit $2.55 billion, making it the seventh most traded cryptocurrency by volume. Notably, Luna Classic (LUNC) recorded even higher volume at $2.81 billion, ranking sixth, though LUNC dropped 13.6% in the past 24 hours after a 69.5% gain over the previous seven days.
USTC Performance and Trading Pair Breakdown
The former Terra stablecoin UST (now USTC) was trading near $0.047, roughly the value of a U.S. nickel. USTC saw a 4% increase on Friday, with a 27.3% rise over the last week and a 55.9% gain over 14 days. Its market cap stood at $461.67 million, with $211.24 million in global daily trading volume.
Analysis of LUNA's trading pairs shows that 57% of all LUNA trades were against Tether (USDT), followed by BUSD (32%), Turkish Lira (TRY) at 7.15%, USDC at 2.27%, and direct USD pairings at 0.83%. Smaller percentages involved EUR, ETH, and USDD.
Terra 2.0 DeFi Total Value Locked Doubles
Beyond price action, Terra 2.0's decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem experienced a significant boost, with total value locked (TVL) doubling from $24.72 million to $51.48 million on Friday. According to DefiLlama data, Riskharbor led with $33.59 million in TVL, followed by Astroport at $16.7 million and Stader at $2.61 million.
The explosive performance of LUNA 2.0 has reignited discussions about Terra's revival trajectory. While the original Terra ecosystem collapsed in May 2022, the new Phoenix chain appears to be attracting traders and liquidity back. However, investors should remain cautious given the token's extreme volatility and the interconnected risks from LUNC and USTC.