Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: Cryptocurrency, Money
Jayden Collins
The price of cryptocurrency Terra (LUNA) has dropped by more than 99 percent and many investors have lost a whole lot of money.
The digital coin, which was ranked in the top 10 most valuable cryptocurrencies, peaked at $119 (£97) in April, before seeing a steady decline throughout the backend of the month down to $76 (£62).
Investors must have believed they were out of the frying pan when the coin recovered in late April and climbed back up to $99 (£81).
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But as they say, out of the frying pan and into the fire.
This week saw a mass crash of the crypto market, and it seems LUNA took the hardest hit, dropping to less than $1 in value.
The dramatic drop saw the cryptocurrency lose 97.4 percent of its value in the space of just 24 hours with its market cap going from above $40 billion (£32 billion) to just $500 million (£409 million).
It is perhaps the most unprecedented loss from any leading cryptocurrency in quite a few years.
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As you can imagine, crypto traders are understandably not taking the loss well. Members of r/TerraLuna took to the subreddit with some pretty harrowing stories.
One member wrote: “I’ve lost all my life savings. Had bought Luna at $85, not sure what to do.”
Another user wrote: “This seems unreal I can’t believe this is happening, I basically lost 60k overnight with what could have been considered a risk-off asset 3 days and I can’t do anything about it.
“Can’t sell, can’t buy, I can just watch it burn. This is insane. What the actual f**k.”
Leading crypto exchange Binance had temporarily suspended withdrawals on Terra (LUNA) at one point during the crash.
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The subreddit pinned a thread containing national helpline numbers to the top of their thread after some pretty upsetting recounts from its users.
Make sure to check in on your crypto friends.
Do Kwon, who founded Terra creators Terraform Labs, took to Twitter to address the situation.
He said: “Dear Terra Community: I understand the last 72 hours have been extremely tough for all of you - know that I am resolved to work with every one of you to weather this crisis, and we will build our way out of this.
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“Together.”
He continued: “The Terra ecosystem is one of the most vibrant in the crypto industry, with hundreds of passionate teams building category-defining applications within.
"As long as these builders, TFL among them, continue to build - we will come out of this together.”
Some investors remained a little more positive about the situation, with YouTube star KSI taking the crash as an opportunity.
He tweeted: “In total, I have bought about 100,000 Luna. Sticking it in a wallet and gonna see what happens in a few years.
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“Could be the best/worst trade of my life. I saw an opportunity and I had to take it.”