Key Takeaways

• Terra Classic (LUNC) is the continuation of the old Terra (LUNA) coin, which collapsed in May 2022.
• It has recently enjoyed a price boost after a new upgrade was announced.
• Having been linked to one of the worst crashes in crypto history, can it ever truly recover its credibility? 

 

Rising from the ashes of the collapse of the Terra blockchain, Terra Classic (LUNC) has been perhaps more successful than some crypto experts may have thought, but that does not mean everything has been plain sailing. A fairly stagnant 2023 for the coin was given a boost when it was announced  that the community behind it was planning an upgrade, dubbed LUNC 2.0, and introducing a 5% commission for the system’s validators, security upgrades, and the introduction of the CosmWasm smart contract platform. This news saw the price of Terra Classic rise by more than 10% in the course of a week, putting the coin back into the mix when it came to the most talked-about cryptos. 

But what is Terra Classic (LUNC)? How does Terra Classic work? Let’s see if we can answer those questions, and also examine some of the Terra Classic price predictions being made as of 7 June 2023. 

 

Terra Classic (LUNC) Explained

When it comes to the cryptosphere, one of the most important types of cryptocurrency is the stablecoin. Designed always to be worth a certain value, usually $1, stablecoins allow people to trade crypto without having to worry about having to go through the process of depositing their own fiat currency every time they want to get their hands on some new crypto. There are two ways of making sure a stablecoin remains pegged to a certain level. One of these ways is by it backed by assets. This is what stablecoins like Tether (USDT) do. Another way is by having something called an algorithmic stablecoin. These stablecoins are linked to another crypto. If the stablecoin rises above its peg, then the other coin gets minted, while if it drops, then other coin gets burned, or destroyed. The idea is that this all takes place automatically, thus ensuring the stablecoin stays, well, stable.

One such algorithmic stablecoin was the TerraUSD (UST) crypto. Founded in 2019 by crypto entrepreneurs Daniel Shin and Do Kwon, it was based on the Terra blockchain and was linked to the Terra (LUNA) cryptocurrency.  As well as supporting UST, LUNA was also used to pay transactions on Terra and it could be staked to validate those transactions. Holders were also able to vote on changes to the network.   LUNA ended up being one of the biggest cryptos going, with a market cap in the billions of dollars and a place in the bottom half of the top ten largest cryptos.

There was, however, one problem. A lot of people deposited their UST into Anchor Protocol, a crypto lending platform based on the Terra blockchain. Anchor offered people a 20% return on investment, and at one point 72% of the supply of UST was on Anchor. However, having such a large amount of money in one place, even when it is virtual, can cause issues. On 7 May 2022, more than $2 billion worth of UST was withdrawn from Anchor Protocol. This, in turn, led to UST dropping to $0.91. In return, investors rushed to turn their UST into LUNA. This meant the price of UST kept dropping, more LUNA was being created and, with the supply drastically expanding, the price of LUNA also kept falling, with crypto exchanges stopping offering either LUNA or UST. This rippled out throughout the crypto market, which suffered a crash.

With LUNA and UST becoming shadows of their former selves, the Terra community decided on a radical solution. A new blockchain would be established with a new version of the LUNA cryptocurrency. This would take the LUNA handle, while the original blockchain, now called Terra Classic, would support the original cryptocurrency, now called LUNC , owned and operated by the Terra Classic community. LUNC is used to power Terra Classic and can be bought, sold and traded on exchanges. 

It is worth noting that Do Kwon has since been arrested by United States authorities with eight charges, including securities fraud, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy.

 

LUNC Price History

Let’s now look at the Terra Classic price history . While past performance should never be taken as an indicator of future results, knowing what the coin has done since it came into existence can help give us some important context when it comes to either making or interpreting a Terra Classic price prediction. 

While we will be looking at Terra Classic as LUNC, rather than as LUNA, it is worth noting that, in its previous incarnation, it started trading at about $1.30 in 2019, reached an all-time high of $119.18 on 5 April 2022 and then fell to an all-time low of $0.00001675 on 13 May that year. LUNC officially became Terra Classic on 28 May and, that day, it closed trading at $0.00009566. There were ups and downs, and LUNC’s highest price as Terra Classic came on 8 September, when the news that the platform would introduce a 1.2% tax on transactions saw it peak at $0.0005888. After that, though, things quickly went down, with the collapse of the FTX exchange a blow, and it closed the year at around $0.000145. 

So far, 2023 has been something of a damp squib for Terra Classic. While it managed to break past $0.0002 in early February, it has dropped back down, but with the announcement of LUNC 2.0 in early June, the price has rallied somewhat and, on 7 June, it was worth about $0.00009555. At that time, there were about 5.85 billion LUNC in circulation out of a total supply of 6.8 billion. This gave the token a market cap of around $583 million, making it the 69th largest crypto by that measurement. 

 

Terra Classic Coin Price Prediction

With that all said and done, let’s now take a look at some of the Terra Classic price predictions that were being made as of 7 June 2023. Keep in mind that pretty much any price forecast is liable to end up being wrong, and that especially applies when it concerns something as potentially volatile as cryptocurrency. Also, remember that longer-term crypto price predictions are often made using an algorithm, which means they can change at a moment’s notice. 

First, CoinCodex  had a rather downbeat short-term Terra Classic price prediction for 2023. The site said that it expected LUNC to fall to $0.0000874 by 12 June with a further drop to $0.0000854 by 8 July. The site’s technical analysis was, perhaps surprisingly, absolutely neutral, with 15 indicators sending bullish signals and the exact same name number making bearish ones. 

Next, DigitalCoinPrice  had a Terra Classic coin price prediction that said the crypto would trade at an average of $0.000175 this year, $0.000244 next year and $0.000344 the year after that. By 2026, the site said, LUNC would be worth somewhere in the region of $0.000431, with the next move taking place two years later, when it would stand at about $0.000519. The coin would then end the decade at $0.000701, before the site went on to make a Terra Classic price prediction for 2030 which saw it break through a barrier to trade at $0.00101. The site’s long-term LUNC price prediction suggested it would be worth about $0.00189 in 2032. 

Meanwhile, gov.capital  made a LUNC price prediction which said the coin would close 2023 at an average price of $0.000132. The site’s Terra Classic price prediction for 2025 saw it start the year at $0.000359, reach $0.000551 by June 7 and drop slightly to $0.000546 on 31 December. Going forward, the site claimed that, in five years time, LUNC would stand at $0.000922.

Finally, WalletInvestor  was not the place to look for people who only wanted upbeat news about LUNC. In its Terra Classic crypto price prediction, the site said that the coin was in for a difficult 12 months, dropping to just $0.0000552 by early June 2024. 

 

Is Terra Classic a Good Investment?

Terra Classic is a rather unusual crypto, in that it is what remains of the old LUNA currency before it was, in effect, abandoned by its creators in the wake of the collapse of the UST stablecoin. While its performance is a long way from its previous incarnation, it has still not been a total embarrassment and it has an active community behind it. That said, it has the misfortune of being associated with one of the most destructive crashes in crypto history, and it is unclear as to whether the community will be able to pull off what would count as a major public relations exercise in making potential investors think it is worth putting their money in. As always, it is crucial to do your own research before investing in LUNC.

Will Terra Classic Go Up or Down?

No one can really say right now. While DigitalCoinPrice and gov.capital are upbeat in terms of what they thought might happen to the coin, other sites were not so bullish, with CaptainAltCoin  describing LUNA as a “shitcoin with no future”. Either way, remember that price predictions very often turn out to be wrong and that prices can, and do, go down as well as up. 

Should I Invest in Terra Classic?

Before you invest in LUNC, you will need to make sure you do your own research, not only onTerra Classic, but also on other, similar, cryptos, such as LUNA. At the end of the day, this is a decision you will have to make for yourself, but it is vital that you never invest more money than you can afford to lose. 

 

FAQs

Is Terra Classic Expected to Rise?

It depends on who you ask. For instance, gov.capital and DigitalCoinPrice were pretty bullish about the future of LUNC on 7 June 2023, but WalletInvestor and CaptainAltCoin were extremely pessimistic. 

Can Terra Classic Reach $1?

It is, hypothetically, possible that LUNC could reach the dollar at some point in the distant future, but, seeing as the coin is still worth considerably less than a cent, it isn’t going to happen at any point soon, possibly not within our lifetimes. 

How Old is Terra Classic?

Again, it all depends on how you define Terra Classic. If you define it as the continuation of the old LUNA coin, it is about four years old. However, if you define it as a de facto new thing following the creation of the new Terra blockchain, then it is just over a year old. 

Disclaimer: This article does not constitute financial advice. Always make sure to do your own research before investing, remember that prices can go down as well as up, and never invest more money than you can afford to lose.