Terra (LUNA) has emerged as one of the biggest winners in the cryptocurrency market today, following a significant double-digit increase in price.
The sharp rise coincides with the ruling of founder Do Kwon, which is scheduled for today, and recent updates in the ecosystem that have drawn attention to the network.
Why is Terra (LUNA) token price rising?
Altcoin began to rise late last week, and the momentum increased on Monday after the v2.18.0 network upgrade. Major exchanges like Bybit and Binance supported the update and temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals to ensure a smooth transition for users.
This contributed to a noticeable increase in market sentiment. In fact, the token rose to a 7-month high yesterday. The upward trend has continued today as well.
BeInCrypto Markets data showed that the LUNA price has risen by 55.58% in the last 24 hours. As of this writing, the altcoin was trading at $0.232.
It is worth noting that today's rise has made LUNA the second biggest winner on CoinGecko in the last 24 hours. Trading activity has also increased, with a daily volume that rose by 192.10% to over $700 million.
Beyond the network upgrade, another key driver of increased attention is the sentencing for Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon.
Kwon is set to appear before Judge Engelmayer in the Southern District of New York today. The Justice Department is seeking a prison sentence of 12 years.
An analyst pointed out, however, that the sentences may vary from the prosecution's claims. Sam Bankman-Fried received 25 years, while the prosecution requested 40-50 years. Alex Mashinsky received 12 years in prison, although 20 years was requested.
“I will not speculate on exactly how many years he will get, but it would be naive to think he will get over 12 years, especially considering the time served,” wrote Camol in a post.
Nevertheless, Toknex has expressed concern about the rise in the LUNA price, warning traders not to view the increase as a genuine upturn.
“This is not a comeback. This is not about fundamental conditions. It is solely community-driven trading activity. The real Terra ecosystem died in 2022. This new LUNA lacks narrative and lasting value. It only moves when traders want to gamble on volatility,” wrote Toknex in a post.
As the sentence announcement approaches, the community has shown increased interest not only in LUNA but also in Terra Luna Classic (LUNC). The renewed attention has sent both tokens to the top of CoinGecko's list of today's trends.
BeInCrypto reported last week that the LUNC price rose 100% after a journalist wore a retro Terra Luna t-shirt during Binance Blockchain Week in Dubai.
As both LUNA and LUNC return to the spotlight, market participants are divided on whether the recent rise represents a genuine revitalization or just another volatility-driven increase.
