Terra chain halts operations, ASTRO token falls over 60%

The Terra blockchain halt dramatically falls in the ASTRO token value due to a suspected exploit.

The Terra blockchain has announced that the chain will be temporarily halted at block height 11430400, and user transactions will no longer be processed during the downtime.

According to Terra’s official X post, the team will work with Terra (Phoenix-1) validators to apply an emergency patch after the suspension to “remediate a suspected exploit.”

An X post by Cyvers Alerts revealed that the exploit resulted in the theft of approximately 60 million Astroport (ASTRO) tokens, 3.5 million Circle USD (USDC), 500,000 Tether (USDT), and 2.7 Bitcoin (BTC).

Related: Terraform Labs to reopen Shuttle Bridge, destroy LUNA tokens

Astro token price falls over 60%

As a result of the blockchain suspension and exploit remedial news, the Astro token price collapsed, falling from around $0.045 to as low as $0.01313 by 03:00 am UTC on July 31.

Before the news broke, the allegedly stolen 60 million Astro tokens were worth roughly $2.7 million but are now worth approximately $1.08 million as the token’s price stabilizes around $0.018.

Although the 60 million tokens are only equivalent to around 5.5% of the total supply, the still unfolding events have established a new all-time low (ATL) for the Astroport decentralized marketplace.

Related: Terraform Labs to sell 4 companies as part of wind-down

Terraform Labs shut down

On June 12, Terraform Labs agreed to pay the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) a settlement of around $4.47 billion.

Terraform Labs’ SEC settlement payments included $3.6 billion in disgorgement fines, a $420 million civil penalty, and a prejudgement interest of almost $467 million.

According to the settlement plan, former CEO Do Kwon was liable for around $204 million after the SEC found the firm liable for the Terra ecosystem collapse, which resulted in $40 billion in losses for investors.

Related: Terraform Labs to shut down after $4.5B SEC settlement: Law Decoded

Terra developments leading up to the exploit

On July 19, Terraform Labs announced it would reopen the Shuttle Bridge, allowing users to redeem their sealed assets on the Terra Classic blockchain.

Terra posted the news in an X post, informing the community that the recent bankruptcy court order in the firm’s Chapter 11 case would allow them to undelegate and burn 150 million LUNA tokens.

Terra informed users that they have a 30-day window to redeem their wrapped assets through the Shuttle Bridge wallet.

According to the post, after 30 days, the Bridge will be permanently closed, and the remaining assets will be destroyed.