Terra (LUNA) has shown one of the biggest upward trends in the cryptocurrency market today, recording a strong double-digit price increase.
This surge coincided with the sentencing of founder Do Kwon scheduled for today and a recent ecosystem update that has drawn attention to the network.
What is the reason for the surge in Terra (LUNA) token prices?
This altcoin started to rise from the end of last week and gained momentum on Monday when the v2.18.0 network upgrade was carried out. Major exchanges like Bybit and Binance supported the upgrade and temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals for a smooth transition.
As a result, market sentiment has clearly improved. In fact, the LUNA token recorded its highest price in seven months yesterday. This upward trend continued today.
According to BeInCrypto market data, the LUNA price has risen by 55.58% in the last 24 hours. At the time of writing, this altcoin was trading at $0.232.
In particular, with today's rise, LUNA ranked second in daily percentage increase on CoinGecko. Trading volume also surged, with daily trading volume increasing by 192.10%, surpassing $700 million.
In addition to the network upgrade, another important reason that drew the market's attention is the sentencing of Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon.
Do Kwon is expected to appear before Judge Engelmayer at the Southern District Court of New York today. The U.S. Department of Justice is recommending a 12-year prison sentence.
However, one analyst mentioned that the court ruling may differ from the prosecution's request. Bankman-Fried received a 25-year sentence despite the prosecution requesting 40 to 50 years, and Alex Mashinsky also received a 12-year sentence despite a 20-year recommendation.
"I don't intend to predict the exact sentence, but considering the time already served, thinking that more than 12 years will be sentenced is naive." - Kamol, X (formerly Twitter) post.
Meanwhile, Toknex expressed concern over the LUNA price rally, warning not to view this upward trend as a real recovery.
"This is not a revival. It is not fundamental. It is merely trading pressure driven by the community. The real Terra ecosystem disappeared in 2022. This new LUNA has no story and no lasting value. It only moves when there are traders betting on volatility." - Toknex, X (formerly Twitter) post.
As the sentencing approaches, the community is showing a lot of interest not only in LUNA but also in Terra Luna Classic (LUNC). This interest has placed both tokens high on the CoinGecko popularity search list.
BeInCrypto reported last week that after a journalist wore a vintage Terra Luna t-shirt at the Binance Blockchain Week Dubai event, the LUNC price surged 100%.
As LUNA and LUNC regain attention, market participants have differing opinions on whether the recent upward trend is a true recovery or just another short-term surge driven by volatility.
