Terra in less than a nutshell
Terra is a Layer 1 blockchain specialized in algorithmic stablecoins, mainly the UST, which is pegged to the USD. The native token of Terra is LUNA, which has an algorithmic relationship with UST that assists on sticking with its USD peg. As oppose to other networks in DeFi, various tokens can be used for gas fee, in addition to UST and LUNA.
Terra Bridge is the official DeFi bridge to Terra, TerraSwap is the main DEX, and Anchor Protocol is the main blue chip app with 20% APY on UST. Mirror Protocol is also one of Terra’s blue chip platforms, it offers trading assets pegged to main US stocks and commodities, and also short or farming them (I’ve already covered Mirror’s Delta Neutral strategy in here.)
How to start using Terra
- First, let’s setup a Terra wallet – create a Terra Station wallet.
- Now we need funds. We can bridge from CEX UST or Luna, however we can use Terra Bridge to bridge UST from other DeFi networks which are not ETH –
- Swap your funds into USDC or USDT, and bridge them to BSC (preferably using Multichain.)
- On BSC, swap from USDC or USDT to UST. You can use 1Inch, Firebird or Paraswap.
- Now bridge those UST tokens from BSC to Terra using Terra Bridge. Make sure source network is BSC, destination is Terra, amount of UST is written, wallet connected to BSC, and address of Terra wallet is inserted on Destination Address.
- Basically you’re done, within ±3 minutes the UST will lend on your Terra wallet, and you’ll be able to use it in various Terra ecosystem dApps.
I have a question. Since we are using BSC would it be the same to transfer funds as BUSD as opposed to USDT or USDC ?
It all depends on liquidity. BUSD liquidity are mostly on BSC chain. So on the source network you might not have enough BUSD liquidity for that.
Anyways things are changing so fast on DeFi, so make sure to check everything if you read an old post. Terra Bridge now supports more networks, so this step might not be required any more – Avalanche, Fantom, Harmony, Polygon, etc.