Swiss Asset Manager GAM Denies Talks With Terra Over Possible Bailout

Swiss asset manager GAM Holding said on Friday it is not in talks with Terra developer Terraform Labs over a possible bailout.

GAM said in a press release that an earlier release suggesting the company could invest between $2 billion to $3 billion in Terra was fake, and that it had not issued any such announcement.

GAM, which is headquartered in Zurich, has over $95 billion assets under management. It is also publicly listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange.

The fake announcement came amid reports that Terra was courting private capital help for supporting the UST peg. The blockchain reportedly sought over $1.5 billion.

Terra network halted

Earlier today, Terra halted its blockchain to plug further losses in its main tokens. It was the network’s second such halt in the past 12 hours, with the chain yet to resume trading.

The move came as UST depegged to a new low of below $0.2. Terra has outlined several measures to support the token, including burning excess UST and minting more LUNA to support the peg.

Still, its measures have so far proven to be ineffective. This has also sparked growing criticism of the project and its founder, Kwon.

Mass withdrawals from the blockchain have rendered it almost completely devoid of capital, making any solitary attempt at recovery quite futile.

Terra founder Do Kwon recently said Terra was considering making UST a traditionally collateralized stablecoin– which requires far more capital.

UST, LUNA in trouble

As of press time, UST has now de-pegged to as low as $0.165- a far cry from its $1 peg. LUNA is also trading at half a cent, and appears to have crashed out of the top 200 cryptocurrencies by value.

Major exchanges Binance, OKX and Upbit have also delisted most trading pairs with UST and LUNA. With the blockchain now suspended, holders have few avenues to trade the tokens.