LUNC Passes Tax2Gas Upgrade, But Big Challenges Remain

It's easy to assume that LUNA died in a ditch as soon as Terraform Labs imploded in 2022, with a death spiral wiping $40 billion from the crypto markets.

But a small and seemingly determined group of developers have been pushing ahead with the project, and attempting to make improvements.

Genuine Labs has pushed through a new upgrade called Tax2Gas, which attempts to streamline the transaction process.

Until now, dApp and smart contract creators have had no choice but to try and calculate burn taxes on their own, creating a risk that they'll overpay.

The final results of a vote on the matter showed 46.2% supported Tax2Gas, while 27.2% said no and a further 26.6% abstained.

Organizers admitted that there had been "strong opposition from some members of the community" over the concept.

This is likely because validators on the blockchain may end up receiving lower rewards than they used to.

Now rebranded as Terra Classic, LUNC is a shadow of its former self. Prices have fallen by almost 100% from highs of $119.18 set in April 2022, to $0.0000825.

But it remains the 114th biggest cryptocurrency in CoinMarketCap's rankings, and retains an impressive capitalization of $471 million at current rates.

A wider challenge

Ever since Do Kwon's empire spectacularly collapsed, the community have been trying to pick up the pieces.

A top priority has been to tackle the vast amounts of LUNC currently in circulation through an 0.5% burn tax that's imposed on every single transaction.

While LUNC's circulating supply stands at 5.71 trillion, efforts are underway to reduce this dramatically, but it appears progress has been slow.

Data from LUNC Burner suggests it would take 73 years, eight months and 17 days to achieve the desired target.

Unfortunately, it seems that Genuine Labs has something in common with Terraform Labs: chaotic management.

In a tweet last Friday, it said there have been "internal issues among our team in which involve threats, harassment and responsibility deviation."

Meanwhile, the fallout from Do Kwon's arrest continues to unfold, and is sending shockwaves through the upper echelons of Montenegrin politics.

Reports have accused the country's prime minister, Milojko Spajić, of lying to the president when asked whether he knew Kwon on the day of his arrest.

President Jakov Milatović was quoted by Vijesti as saying:

"Montenegro should not become a safe destination for criminals, it sends a bad image. I expect the competent authorities to wake up and shake things up. They owe us all the truth."