Stablecoins are an integral part of the centralized crypto sector and the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystems that have sprung upwards over the course of the past few years considering they provide the liquidity needed for traders to hands swap into unlike assets. They also serve as a shelter confronting strong downside swings like the 25% correction seen on Dec. 3.

One projection with a stablecoin component that has seen its price surge to a new all-fourth dimension highs despite the wider marketplace pullback is Terra (LUNA), a multi-sector blockchain protocol aimed at building a global payments organisation through the use of a fiat-pegged stablecoin called TerraUSD (UST).

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows since hitting a low of $37.86 on Nov. 26, the price of LUNA has surged 106% to a new all-fourth dimension high at $78.43 on December. v every bit its 24-hour trading volume spiked to a record $v.66 billion.

LUNA/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

3 reasons for the breakout in LUNA price include the increasing supply of UST, a series of new cross-chain integrations for the Terra ecosystem and a surging total value locked (TVL) on the Terra network.

UST supply hits a new all-time high

One of the main drivers behind the strength seen in LUNA has been the rapid growth of the circulating supply of UST, which is now the largest algorithmically-backed stablecoin in the market and the 4th-ranked stablecoin with a market cap of $8.221 billion.

Crypto proponents in favor of decentralized stablecoin options have embraced the apply of UST in comparison to its more centralized counterparts USD Coin (USDC), Tether (USDT) and Binance USD (BUSD).

As the popularity of UST grows, many in the field have begun referring to it as 'the DeFi dollar' because it embodies the ethos of decentralization and is slowly spreading beyond the multi-chain DeFi landscape.

Cantankerous-concatenation integrations

LUNA is also available across a few cantankerous-concatenation bridges, making information technology easier for LUNA holders to invest in DeFi ecosystems on Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), Fantom (FTM) and Polygon (MATIC)

Related: Decentralized exchange aggregator trading volumes surge to new highs

Total value locked on Terra hits an all-fourth dimension high

Increasing utilise of LUNA and UST pushed the full value locked on the Terra blockchain to a new all-time loftier at $14.36 billion on Dec. 5th and LUNA cost hit a record-high on the aforementioned day.

Total value locked on the Terra network. Source: Defi Llama

Terra's rapid rise in TVL resulted in its becm the third-ranked blockchain network afterwards it surpassed Solana, which has $12.08 billion in value locked on its protocol, while the superlative-ranked Ethereum network boasts a TVL of $164.72 billion and the Binance Smart Chain has $22.4 billion in value locked on its blockchain.

VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for LUNA on Nov. 24, prior to the recent price rise.

The VORTECS™ Score, exclusive to Cointelegraph, is an algorithmic comparison of historical and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including marketplace sentiment, trading volume, recent price movements and Twitter action.

VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. CHZ toll. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

Every bit seen in the chart higher up, the VORTECS™ Score for LUNA began to option upwards on Nov. 24 and reached a high of 85 around the same fourth dimension equally the cost began to increment 106% over the side by side 11 days.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reverberate the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves chance, you should carry your own research when making a decision.