LFG Adds $1.5 Billion in Bitcoin to UST Reserves

The purchase comes less than a month after LFG acquired $100 million of Avalanche’s AVAX

article-image

Do Kwon, CEO of TerraForm Labs | Blockworks Exclusive Art by Axel Rangel

share

key takeaways

  • Do Kwon wants UST reserves to hit $10 billion in bitcoin
  • LFG partnered with Genesis Trading and Three Arrows Capital to complete the purchase

With help from Genesis Trading and Three Arrows Capital, the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG) has added $1.5 billion in bitcoin to its UST stablecoin reserves. 

LFG, the nonprofit organization built to support Terra, announced Thursday that it had closed a $1 billion over the counter swap of UST for bitcoin led by digital asset prime broker, Genesis. The average price of the purchases has not been disclosed.

LFG purchased $500 million worth of bitcoin via crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, making the total purchases by the LFG $1.5 billion in bitcoin.

“The LFG’s mission to support the stability and adoption of the UST stablecoin continues with the latest deal acquiring BTC from Genesis for the UST Forex Reserve,” Do Kwon, LFG governing council member and co-founder and CEO of Terraform Labs, said in a statement. “As the leading broker in digital currencies, Genesis’ participation displays the growing demand for decentralized stablecoins in the broader crypto market, helping to build bridges across crypto communities tied together by a common decentralized money.”

The purchase brings LFG’s bitcoin holdings to around $3 billion. Kwon has said that he hopes to eventually acquire $10 billion in bitcoin reserves. 

“LFG has announced they intend to continue to acquire BTC as the preferred long-term stabilizing asset for UST,” Jordi Alexander, chief investment officer at Selini Capital, and a noted Terra skeptic, said.

“While there may now be a temporary pause on their purchases, if UST issuance continues to go up in the future, it would not be surprising to see them start buying again to move towards their intermediate target of $10 billion in bitcoin.”

The announcement comes less than a month after LFG acquired $100 million of the Avalanche Foundation’s native token AVAX to build UST reserves. Industry members were not surprised by the choice, given that a $100 million swap is close to 0.5% of AVAX’s market cap, making it a good opportunity to bring new fans and users to UST.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

  • Blockworks Daily: The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam.
  • Empire: Start your morning with the top news and analysis to inform your day in crypto.
  • Forward Guidance: Reporting and analysis on the growing intersection of crypto and macroeconomics, policy and finance.
  • 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox. Market highlights, data, degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance and more.
  • Lightspeed: Built for Solana investors, developers and community members. The latest from one of crypto’s hottest networks.
  • The Drop: For crypto collectors and traders, covering apps, games, memes and more.
Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates (4).png

Research

Even as the most performant, widely used blockchain today, Solana is still far from perfect, prompting some teams to iterate upon some design choices while maintaining compatibility at the SVM execution layer. This report analyzes three emergent SVM chains (Eclipse, Atlas, and Fogo) to understand the motivations behind the technical architectures, as well as the current state and future outlook.

article-image

Fundamental investors are turning to token buybacks

article-image

A Glassnode report found that the accumulation range for bitcoin is ‘weak,’ indicating a decline in demand

article-image

CEO Bam Azizi said he’ll only be seeking stablecoin-exclusive funding rounds from now on

article-image

Sponsored

WalletConnect is set to deepen its role by integrating with emerging standards and expanding its utility across different onchain sectors

article-image

Zeta Markets has shipped testnet for Bullet, a low-latency “network extension,” the team told Lightspeed exclusively

article-image

Having passed Congress, the resolution will now head to Trump’s desk