It’s Been 1 Year Since Terra Wrecked Crypto for Everyone

It’s been exactly one year since Do Kwon’s algorithmic stablecoin gambit Terra spectacularly depegged and crashed to zero — dragging crypto down along with it.

Smoldering hot takes spread across the web as digital asset markets burned. Crypto skeptics took victory laps as Kwon “didn’t go on the run,” and even hosted their own conference amid an industry-wide downturn.

The impact of the Terra debacle can’t be overstated. Aside from wiping up to $800 billion from crypto markets, the term “algorithmic stablecoin” has been practically deleted from the crypto lexicon. 

Not to mention, lawmakers like Elizabeth Warren continue to invoke Terra to this day when pushing for tighter regulations.

Only one top-20 cryptocurrency (valued as Terra depegged) has fully recovered from the ensuing market crash: Polygon, which as of this morning had added about 9% to its market value.

The rest have shed 38% from their capitalizations, on average, with Sam Bankman-Fried favorite Solana suffering the worst. SOL was worth more than $27 billion before Terra’s demise, now below $8.5 billion.

• Bitcoin (BTC), BNB and XRP are still worth 19% less than before Terra collapsed.
• Ether (ETH) is yet to regain 30% of its market cap.
• Cardano (ADA) and polkadot (DOT) remain 50% underwater.

Blockworks analyzed market capitalizations of cryptocurrencies featured in the top 100 leaderboards at monthly intervals over the past 18 months.

Of the nearly 160 digital assets that fit that description, 31 have seen their market values grow since Terra’s dollar peg first wobbled — a 20% success rate.

With 1,400% gains, debutante memecoin pepe leads the charge, which is no doubt uncomfortable for those seeking some sense of utility from their digital assets. 

China-focused Conflux Network comes in second with 280%, followed by AI services startup SingularityNET and Justin Sun’s stablecoin USDD, which have both gained 246%.

Social media privacy protocol Mask Network isn’t far behind with 216% growth, alongside DeFi tokens Balancer and Rocket Pool, which recorded 214% and 210%, respectively.

Still, after removing the pepe memecoin as an outlier, the top-100 projects analyzed have shed 22% on average since Terra imploded, with around half of those digital assets still down 50%.

Thanks for nothing, Terra.

---

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.