TerraUSD’s 2022 Depeg Triggered a Crypto Collapse That Erased About $45 Billion

The historical note says TerraUSD lost its dollar peg for the second time in 48 hours, starting a death spiral that later spread stress across major crypto firms.

Summary

A historical reference to the TerraUSD collapse says the stablecoin lost its dollar peg for the second time in 48 hours in 2022, setting off the collapse of the Terra ecosystem. The episode wiped out about $45 billion and contributed to a wider chain reaction across the digital asset market, including pressure on Three Arrows Capital, Celsius, Voyager and FTX. The event became one of the most consequential failures in crypto history because it exposed the fragility of algorithmic stablecoins (tokens designed to maintain a fixed price through code and market incentives) and accelerated broader market contagion.

Terms & Concepts
  • algorithmic stablecoin: A crypto token designed to hold a fixed value using code, incentives, and related tokens rather than traditional cash reserves.
  • depeg: A loss of a token’s intended fixed price, such as when a dollar-linked stablecoin falls below $1.
  • death spiral: A rapid self-reinforcing collapse in which falling prices undermine a token’s support mechanism and trigger further selling.