On December 6, 2025, the native token of the Terra blockchain, LUNA, saw its value jump by 20.24% within a single day, reaching $0.1189. Over the previous week, LUNA climbed an impressive 78.5%, and over the past month, it posted a 67.87% increase. However, despite these recent gains, LUNA is still trading 70.77% below its value from a year ago, underscoring the lingering effects of its dramatic collapse in 2022.
The recent rally in LUNA’s price has coincided with growing rumors about a possible pardon for Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the former head of FTX. SBF has been associated with the 2022 depegging of Terra’s UST stablecoin, an event that triggered the downfall of both LUNA and the broader Terra ecosystem. This collapse erased $45 billion from the market and stands as one of the most notable failures in the history of digital assets.
Investors’ renewed focus on Terra-based tokens, especially those on the Terra 2.0 blockchain, has contributed to LUNA’s recent surge. Unlike Luna Classic (LUNC), which is linked to the original Terra Classic chain that was abandoned after the crash, the new LUNA operates on a revamped protocol introduced in the aftermath of the 2022 crisis. This separation has resulted in LUNA outperforming LUNC in recent trading sessions.
The depegging of UST in 2022 marked a turning point for the cryptocurrency sector. When the algorithmic stablecoin lost its link to the U.S. dollar, LUNA’s value plummeted, sparking a chain reaction that drew international attention and led to several legal cases. Do Kwon, Terraform Labs’ co-founder, was extradited to the United States and now faces a possible 12-year prison term, with sentencing scheduled for December 11, 2025, due to the scale of the alleged fraud.
Although SBF was not directly involved with Terra, speculation about his legal fate has influenced overall market sentiment. The possibility of his pardon—though unconfirmed—has added to market volatility, as investors watch for updates on the FTX case and its broader impact on the industry.
While LUNA has recently posted strong gains, it continues to be subject to sharp price swings and faces ongoing scrutiny from regulators. The token’s future performance will likely depend on shifts in market sentiment and the outcomes of high-profile legal proceedings within the crypto sector. Analysts remain cautious, refraining from making short-term predictions for LUNA as uncertainty persists.