Amidst rumors of market manipulation, Waves' USD-based "stablecoin" loses peg, drops to $0.82
The stablecoin belonging to the Waves protocol, "Neutrino dollar" (aka USDN), crashed nearly 20%, despite intending to maintain its 1:1 ratio to the US dollar. The volatility occurred amidst flying accusations on Twitter, where various people first accused the Waves team of manipulating the price of their own token and running a Ponzi scheme, and then Waves' CEO accused an outside trading firm of manipulating the $WAVES price and "organiz[ing] FUD campaigns to trigger panic selling".
Waves protocol Vires Finance loses $530 million after questionable withdrawals
An up-and-coming defi lending project called Vires Finance, which was based on the Waves protocol, offered high returns of 30–70% APY on stablecoins placed in the project. As with so many promises of huge returns, this one fell apart when wallets began siphoning millions of dollars from the protocol by putting up the Waves-based algorithmic stablecoin USDN as collateral, and then withdrawing stablecoins like USDC and Tether. When the USDN stablecoin later de-pegged, those with funds on Vires Finance were left with around $530 million in bad debt.
Waves founder Aleksandr Ivanov blamed the withdrawals on outsiders. However, various crypto researchers believe they have identified Ivanov as the one behind wallets involved in the mass withdrawals. These allegations were later repeated by the FTX bankruptcy estate in an adversary lawsuit against Ivanov.
- "Waves founder’s role in lost $530m raises questions about who’s to blame", DL News
- Adversary case by FTX vs. Aleksandr Ivanov.