Bitcoin fell more than 3.5% during the trading day in Asia, briefly reaching $30,230, according to the CoinDesk Price Index, as the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG) shifts all of its reserves to bitcoin exchanges to defend the UST's bond.
- LFG's reserves have dropped to zero from 80,394 bitcoin, and the majority has been deposited on Gemini, according to Glassnode data.
- James "Checkmate" Check, an analyst at Glassnode, believes Gemini is the custodian for market maker operations or for selling those bitcoin. Check says it's not clear how much of the reserve was sold or lent to market makers.
- The amount of bitcoin on exchanges is the highest it's been since November 2017, but Check argues that market conditions are very different and it's difficult to draw a comparison.
- "It's in no way the same as 2017, it's a completely different mechanism and a different group of players in play. What we are seeing is more of a miniature version of George Soros attacking the peg of the British pound, with LFG playing the role of the Bank of England (with a similar result it seems)," he said in an email to CoinDesk.
- Meanwhile, LUNA has fallen nearly 85% in the last 24 hours and is currently trading at around $4.50, according to CoinGecko data.
- UST is currently at 0.35, down 60% on the day, questioning the success of LFG's operation.