LUNA soars 55% pending Do Kwon ruling

Terra (Luna) emerged today as one of the leading cryptocurrencies in terms of market gains, posting a marked double-digit price increase.

The strong rally coincides with the sentencing of founder Do Kwon, scheduled for today, and recent ecosystem updates that have brought attention back to the network.

The Catalysts Behind the Pulse

The altcoin began gaining ground late last week, with the momentum accelerating on Monday following the network's upgrade to v2.18.0.

Leading exchanges such as Bybit and Binance supported the upgrade, temporarily suspending deposits and withdrawals to ensure a smooth transition for users.

This support contributed to a noticeable improvement in market sentiment. In fact, the token hit a 7-month high yesterday, and the upward trend continued today.

I won't speculate on the exact amount of time he will receive, but it would be naive to think he will get 12+ years, especially considering the time he has already served [in prison]," published Camol.

The updated data showed that the price of LUNA has appreciated by 55.58% over the past 24 hours. At the time of writing, the altcoin was trading at $0.232.

Notably, today's surge positioned LUNA as the second largest daily gainer on CoinGecko. Trading activity has also accelerated, with daily volume up 192.10%, surpassing $700 million.

The Anticipation for Do Kwon's Sentencing

In addition to the network upgrade, another major catalyst that is driving increased attention is the sentencing of Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon.

Kwon is expected to appear before Judge Engelmayer today in the Southern District of New York. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking a 12-year prison sentence.

However, one analyst pointed out that the rulings may deviate from the initial requests. For example, Sam Bankman-Fried received 25 years, while prosecutors had requested 40-50. Similarly, Alex Mashinsky received a 12-year sentence, compared to a request for 20 years.

Attention Divided and Warnings

As the sentencing nears, the community has shown a growing interest in not only LUNA but also Terra Luna Classic (LUNC). The renewed attention has pushed both tokens to the top of the trending list on CoinGecko. Last week, data had reported that the price of LUNC had risen by 100 per cent after a journalist wore a vintage Terra Luna T-shirt during Binance Blockchain Week in Dubai.

Nonetheless, Toknex raised concerns about the rally of LUNA's prices, warning traders not to consider the rise as a "genuine recovery". Therefore, as LUNA and LUNC return to the spotlight, market participants remain divided over whether the latest upswing represents a genuine revival or simply yet another volatility-driven breakout.