How to Buy Terra Coin (LUNA)

Whether you are new to cryptocurrency or a long-term investor, you may be interested in checking out – and purchasing - new options that are now available.

As part of this article, we examine a cryptocurrency called Terra (LUNA) and consider some reasons to invest.

How to Buy LUNA

1. Create a Coinbase account - We recommend using Coinbase as it offers $5 in free Bitcoin when you sign-up.
2. Add a payment method - Add your payment method and fund your account.
3. Research the coin - Search for the coin by name or ticker symbol - LUNA.
4. Decide the amount of coins - Now it is time to decide how many coins you want to buy of Terra.
5. Purchase coins of LUNA - Buy the amount of coins you want with at the current price on Coinbase.

If you are curious about Terra, you may wonder where it came from, how many there are, and what sort of security measures they use, as well as what makes it different from other cryptocurrencies.

You will find the answers to these questions below.  Once you have finished reading here, you will know what you need to know to make a wise choice when considering the purchase of Terra coins. 

What is Terra (LUNA)?

Terra is a decentralized and entirely digital cryptocurrency based on stablecoins (digital coins with specific backing to stabilize prices) that uses a blockchain method.

Its' primary use is to drive payment systems around the world.

Who Are the Founders of Terra?

Daniel Shin and Do Kwon, two developers from South Korea, founded Terra in January 2018. They desired to improve blockchain adoption by focusing on stabilizing prices and making cryptocurrency more usable. 

Kwon is the CEO of Terraform Labs, which is the company that is the source of Terra. He previously worked for Microsoft and Apple as a software engineer; he also founded Anyfi and served as its CEO.

The company provided networking via wireless mesh.  Shin had previously co-founded two other companies: Ticket Monster (an e-commerce platform in South Korea) and Fast Track Asia, which works with new startups to build fully functional companies.

Terra (LUNA) Price Today

How Many Terra (LUNA) Coins Are in Circulation?

Terra maintains a supply of one billion tokens. When needed, Terra mints new LUNA using an algorithm; if the coins exceed 1 billion, they burn the excess (remove it from circulation) until they reach the proper level. 

This process keeps the price of the LUNA stablecoins… well, stable.  The original release of LUNA debuted privately in August 2018. This initial offering included exchanges such as Binance, Huobi, and OKEx, and resulted in $32 million in original revenue. 

Terraform Labs minted 385,245,974 tokens for the sale, of which 26% was marketed to project backers, 10% reserved for themselves, 20% for people involved (contributors and employees), 20% for reserves to maintain a stable price, 20% for the Terra Alliance, and 4% intended for genesis liquidity.

Mining is done by the LUNA rather than by individuals. People can stake the tokens, which allows them a vote in the governance of the coins, policy, and even upgrades.

Part of the algorithm used involves seigniorage, which is the difference between the coin value and the cost to produce it. 

How is Terra Network Secured?

The security method used by Terra is the Tendermint Delegated-Proof-of-Stake consensus; it uses an algorithm that uses, as collateral, tokens belonging to investors to validate transactions (individually or by delegation). 

Terra offers information regarding security practices to validator nodes, as well.  This is primarily handled via LUNA tokens, which absorb the volatility to protect the value within the ecosystem of Terra, through bonding and validation.

Validators and delegators control the policies and functions and are limited to the top validators, based on ownership (currently 130).

The validators run nodes to add blocks to the chain and verify and settle transactions. In this, their role is similar to miners in the Proof-of-Work type blockchains.

Stakeholders control the public, open-source, decentralized ecosystem. They work together to keep the system secure.

This security has been tested by CertiK for coding, architecture, and market manipulation; they considered it sound in “modeling and mathematical reasoning,” though the firm declined to offer any statement regarding the performance of the blockchain.

What Makes Terra Unique?

Terra is fiat-pegged, which means that it maintains 1-to-1 value between its coins and fiat currency (money created by governments). These include Canadian dollar, Mongolian tugrik, South Korean won, U.S. dollar, Euro, Japanese yen, and Special Drawing Rights currencies of the International Monetary Fund. 

Terra offers, like other cryptocurrencies, the benefits of having no borders while also staying stable in price, maintaining the 1:1 peg using a self-adjusting algorithm to balance supply and demand. 

It does this through incentives for exchanging coins profitably to increase or decrease the supply, as needed.  To be clear, by using a pool of tokens (the LUNA) with smart contracts (which are embedded code in the blockchain) to manage it, LUNA is set to mint more Terra when the price rises and to swap Terra for LUNA if the price falls, keeping a balance of 1:1 overall.

Several payment platforms have partnered with Terra, especially in Asia and the Pacific regions of the world. Chai, based in South Korea, is one such mobile payment facilitator that uses the network of Terra blockchains for processing.

Transactions are settled in 6 seconds with minimal fees.  The Terra Alliance – a group of initial investors and partners – is also aiding in presenting and encouraging the inclusion of Terra. 

Members include around 45 million users of e-commerce platforms representing 10 countries. 

Terra Luna Alternatives

Should I Invest in Terra?

Naturally, it is a very personal decision whether or not to invest in cryptocurrencies. There is much stability offered by the LUNA stablecoins and investors, the knowledgeable leadership team, and the versatile programming. 

There are indeed no guarantees when you invest in crypto. Some potential issues include the possible release of digital currencies globally by governments of countries, regulation, and difficulties of scaling for worldwide expansion.

These are things that the Terra team is aware of, as well.  The excellent performance of Terra is likely to continue as strong as it has begun, making it a great option for your investment; however, it is also true that there is risk involved, so understanding the potential setbacks is important before you make a final decision.

The final takeaway, however, is that Terra and LUNA are a unique part of a growing, secure cryptocurrency that is well balanced and is one of the most promising cryptos currently available.

Taking a chance on LUNA may be a lucrative prospect for long-term investment.