Terra chief proposes to give up stablecoin UST, form new chain

Crypto firm Terraform Labs is looking to fork the Terra blockchain, a move that would abandon its stablecoin, TerraUSD (UST), after the overnight collapse of the firm’s native token, Luna.

Photo credit: Terra

The company’s co-founder and CEO Kwon Do-hyung proposed splitting the network, with its original chain set to be called “Terra Classic” and the new chain to be named “Terra.” The old Luna token will then be called Luna Classic.

The new Luna will be airdropped to Luna Classic holders and stakers, residual UST holders, and essential Terra Classic app developers.

The proposal will be up for community voting on May 18 this year. If it passes, the new network will launch on May 27, less than two weeks later.

“While UST has been the central narrative of Terra’s growth story over the last year, the distribution of UST has led to the development of one of the strongest developer ecosystems in crypto,” said Do-hyung. “The Terra ecosystem and its community are worth preserving.”

See Also: Luna and UST are close to dying. What comes next?

The move comes after Luna saw its value crash over 99% to drop below US$1 after peaking at US$120 last month. This has prompted South Korean regulators to push for the quicker establishment of an investor-friendly “Digital Asset Basic Act,” which was had been reportedly set to take effect by 2024.