New Terra Blockchain Launch Expected Saturday, With LUNA Airdrop to Follow

The move is part of a broader plan to help revive the Terra ecosystem and its related tokens.

AccessTimeIconMay 27, 2022 at 11:47 a.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 6:57 p.m. UTC
10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now

Terra’s new blockchain will be launched on Saturday followed by an airdrop of new LUNA tokens to users as part of a broader plan to revive the ecosystem, developers confirmed Friday.

“The community has been working around the clock to coordinate the new chain’s launch,” Terra developers said in a tweet on Friday morning. “Subject to potential change, we expect Terra to go live on May 28th, 2022 at around 06:00 AM UTC.”

A snapshot of the new blockchain, currently called "Terra 2.0," took place earlier this week after the conclusion of a vote among network validators with a 65% approval rate.

Holders of LUNA and terraUSD (UST), a U.S.-dollar pegged stablecoin, are eligible to receive new LUNA tokens in a vested manner based on their previous holdings. This would, in theory, allow old holders to regain some of their lost investment value while incentivizing usage of the new blockchain.

For example, wallets with more than 1 million LUNA or UST prior to UST’s depegging from the U.S. dollar would have to wait more than a year before receiving any tokens, with a four-year vesting period thereafter. New tokens will be automatically distributed to existing user wallets.

Popular applications from the current blockchain – which will continue as "Terra Classic" after the launch of Terra 2.0 – are expected to migrate to the new blockchain.

Separately, a governance vote on Terra’s proposal 1747 to burn 1.388 billion UST passed on Thursday. The move reduced UST’s supply by some 11% of its current supply of 11.28 billion.

Terra’s UST tokens saw a bank run earlier this month that caused prices of the tokens to fall to as low as 7 cents. This caused a loss of trust in the Terra ecosystem among investors, with prices of LUNA tokens falling nearly 100% and Terra-based decentralized finance (DeFi) applications losing upward of $28 billion in locked value.

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

Shaurya Malwa

Shaurya is the Deputy Managing Editor for the Data & Tokens team, focusing on decentralized finance, markets, on-chain data, and governance across all major and minor blockchains.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.