Blackrock, Citadel, Gemini Deny Involvement in Terra Collapse

The world’s largest asset manager, Blackrock, and hedge fund giant Citadel Securities have denied claims that they had a role in the fall of terrausd (UST) and terra (LUNA). In addition, crypto exchange Gemini has denied making a bitcoin loan that resulted in the terra collapse.

Blackrock, Citadel Securities, Gemini Deny Rumors

Following the collapse of terra (LUNA) after algorithmic stablecoin terrausd (UST) lost its peg to the U.S. dollar this week, rumors have been circulating that Blackrock, Citadel Securities, and Gemini had some part in the fall. The three companies quickly denied the accusation.

According to the rumors, Blackrock and Citadel Securities borrowed 100K BTC from cryptocurrency exchange Gemini and swapped 25% for UST. The two companies subsequently dumped the UST and BTC, crashing the prices of the two cryptocurrencies.

On Wednesday, the official Twitter account of Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, tweeted:

Rumors that we had a role in the collapse of UST are categorically false. In fact, Blackrock does not trade UST.

The asset manager recently backed Circle Internet Financial Ltd., the issuer of another stablecoin called USD Coin (USDC). Circle’s stablecoin is currently the fourth-largest crypto with a market cap of almost $50 billion.

Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini also denied the rumors. The company tweeted Wednesday:

We are aware of a recent story that suggested Gemini made a 100K BTC loan to large institutional counter-parties that reportedly resulted in a selloff in LUNA. Gemini made no such loan.

Hedge fund giant Citadel Securities similarly said that it had nothing to do with the collapse of the stablecoin UST. A representative of the firm told Bloomberg that the company “does not trade stablecoins, including UST.”

In March, Citadel Securities said that it plans to engage in making markets in cryptocurrencies over the coming months.

The collapse of LUNA has shaken the crypto market. At the time of writing, the price of the cryptocurrency has fallen to $0.035, down almost 100% over the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, UST dropped to a low of $0.30 on Wednesday but has since bounced back to the current price of $0.60.

Do you think Blackrock, Citadel Securities, and Gemini had a role in the collapse of terra? Let us know in the comments section below.

Kevin Helms

A student of Austrian Economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open-source systems, network effects and the intersection between economics and cryptography.

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