Apollo DAO to close vaults on Terra Classic

The protocol’s TVL has plunged from around $200 million in September 2021 to less than $125K.

Around the same time that a South Korean court issued an arrest warrant for Terra co-founder Do Kwon, Apollo DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization building on the Terra blockchain, said it was closing down its vaults on Terra Classic (LUNC) — formerly Terra (LUNA). The project’s developers wrote: 

“Since the collapse of Terra, Apollo has continued to maintain its LP [Liquidity Provider] vaults on Terra Classic; however, due to the low return and high level of required maintenance, it no longer makes sense to support the Terra Classic network.”

The Apollo DAO, comprised of over 10,000 token holders, built its vaults primarily for trading the Terra USD (USTC) stablecoin and Terra Luna (LUNC) token pairs. Both tokens have plunged drastically in value since May, and co-founder Do Kwon is currently wanted in South Korea for allegedly violating the country’s capital market laws. In addition, project developers explained that the new Terra proposal to tax 1.2% of every on-chain LUNC transaction would have been too difficult to implement on its platform without substantial capital. 

“We will continue to assess the viability of relaunching our vaults on Terra Classic; however, we would like these to be fully designed around the requirements of Terra Classic to ensure a greater product market fit.”

Apollo DAO says its instead focusing its future on liquid staking and developing the Apollo Safe on various Cosmos chains. At its launch last September, the total value locked, or TVL, on Apollo DAO hit a peak of around $200 million. At the publication, Apollo DAO’s TVL has fallen to less than $125,000. Users are encouraged to withdraw any remaining funds before the launch of the novel Terra tax proposal.