LUNC Soars 70%: Is the Market Betting on an SBF Pardon?

[BlockBeats] On December 6, during intraday trading, LUNC and LUNA suddenly experienced a collective, violent surge.

Data shows: LUNC soared over 70% in a single day, with its market cap reaching $342 million; LUNA was not to be outdone, with a 24-hour increase of nearly 40%, pushing its market cap back to $131 million.

Behind this unusual move, the market is betting on a subtle possibility—a pardon might actually be granted to SBF.

First, let’s talk about the origins of these two coins. LUNC is actually the renamed original LUNA, the native token of the Terra mainnet, which was forced to rebrand after the epic collapse in May 2022. The current LUNA is the Terra 2.0 token, relaunched through a community vote after the crash—a “restart” version, so to speak.

Back to that 2022 disaster: UST lost its peg, triggering a chain reaction. LUNA crashed from $80 to zero, with $45 billion in market value evaporating instantly, making it the most catastrophic incident in crypto history. The founder of a major exchange and its affiliated institutions—SBF—was accused of playing a “catalyst” role in the collapse.

Recently, there have been new developments: SBF’s cellmate was suddenly pardoned and immediately started speaking out frequently from prison. Keen market players are now speculating: could SBF be next? If so, “victim assets” like LUNC and LUNA could see a sentiment-driven recovery.

Of course, whether this surge is early positioning or pure hype is still too early to say. But it’s clear that the crypto market loves this kind of “narrative-driven” play.