Crypto Moves — Bitcoin, Ether plummets; TerraUSD announces recovery plan; Brazilian bank allows virtual currency transactions

RIYADH: Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency internationally, traded lower on Thursday, down 11.60 percent to $27,194 as of 08:10 a.m. Riyadh time.

Ether, the second most traded cryptocurrency, was priced at $1,853, down 21.11 percent, according to data from Coindesk.

Collapsed stablecoin TerraUSD announces recovery plan

TerraUSD, the so-called stablecoin which plunged in price this week, will be backed by reserves in the future, its co-founder said in a tweet on Wednesday, in an attempt to steady the cryptocurrency by adjusting its complex pegging mechanism.

Stablecoins are digital tokens pegged to the value of traditional assets, such as the US dollar. They are popular in times of turmoil in crypto markets and are a common medium of exchange, often used by traders to move funds around and speculate on other cryptocurrencies.

TerraUSD, also known as ‘UST’, slipped below its 1:1 peg to the dollar this week, roiling cryptocurrency markets already under pressure alongside tumbling stock markets. It dropped further to as low as 30 cents on Wednesday, before recovering to around 60 cents, according to the price website Coingecko.

Prior to Monday, TerraUSD had a market cap of more than $18.5 billion and was the tenth-largest cryptocurrency. It has since lost more than half of that value and is now the twelfth-largest cryptocurrency with a market cap hovering around $8.6 billion.

Nubank to allow cryptocurrency transactions for clients

Fintech Nubank will allow Brazilian customers to make cryptocurrency transactions on its banking app starting in May and said the company bought bitcoin of about 1 percent of its cash holding.

The new bank service will allow bitcoin and ether transactions starting at 1 real ($0.1950), the company said on Wednesday.

The feature will begin rolling out in May and will be available to all of the digital bank’s 50 million customers by June. Nubank said it has plans to add other cryptocurrencies in the long term.

Nubank did not disclose the exact amount of bitcoin it bought. According to the company’s latest earnings report, its cash and equivalents position at the end of December was $2.7 billion.

(With inputs from Reuters)