xASTRO staking and upcoming ‘Terra wars’ send Astroport price to new highs

cointelegraph.com:

Projects that launch on up-and-coming blockchain networks can often benefit from a low competition environment that allows them to attract  new users and liquidity at a faster rate than crowded networks like Ethereum. 

A recent example of this is Astroport (ASTRO), an automated market maker (AMM) on the Terra (LUNA) network that has seen an influx of activity alongside the increased attention that is being focused on the Terra ecosystem and its Terra USD (UST) stablecoin. .

Data from CoinGecko shows that since hitting a low of $1.28 on March 7, the price of ASTRO has exploded 194% to hit a new all-time high of $4.80 on April 5.

Three reasons for the price appreciation seen in ASTRO include the increased attention the Terra ecosystem has received related to the recent Bitcoin (BTC) purchases to back UST, the launch of xASTRO staking rewards and a rise in the total value locked on the protocol.

The rising popularity of the Terra network could be one of the most significant factors helping to attract attention and users to Astroport as the ongoing purchase of BTC by the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG) for the purpose of providing collateral to back UST is shining a light on the networks decentralized finance ecosystem.

$UST with $10B+ in $BTC reserves will open a new monetary era of the Bitcoin standard. P2P electronic cash that is easier to spend and more attractive to hold #btc

UST is now the largest decentralized stablecoin by circulating supply and following the addition of BTC to the LFG treasury, Astroport is the main AMM currently in operation on the network.

A second development helping to boost demand for ASTRO was the release of xASTRO staking that offers ASTRO holders a way to increase their stack.

ASTRO stakers can