"The first large-scale DeFi bank run — a $2B partial-reserve stablecoin drained to zero in under 24 hours, with Mark Cuban among the casualties."
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RAISED
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EMPLOYEES
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MONTHS
marketfitSilent Shutdown
Quiet closure with no public announcement
// Fatal mistake: Partial-reserve stablecoin design with redemption mechanism that created a bank run death spiral under selling pressure
Key Events Timeline
2021-04
FUNDING
Iron Finance launches on Polygon blockchain offering IRON, an algorithmic stablecoin partially backed by USDC and partially by TITAN governance token. Aggressive liquidity mining yields attract capital rapidly. TVL grows from zero to $2B in approximately 6 weeks. Mark Cuban publicly endorses the protocol in blog posts. The promise of high yields creates reflexive demand for TITAN as collateral.
2021-06
DOWN ROUND
June 16, 2021: Large holders begin redeeming IRON stablecoins. Each redemption requires selling TITAN tokens to maintain the peg. As TITAN price falls, IRON's partial collateral weakens, triggering more redemptions, triggering more TITAN selling. TITAN crashes from approximately $60 to near $0 in under 24 hours. The protocol TVL collapses from $2B to near zero. Mark Cuban publicly acknowledges losing money.
2021-06
SHUTDOWN
Iron Finance publishes a post-mortem calling the event 'the world's first large-scale crypto bank run.' The protocol is effectively abandoned. The collapse becomes the defining case study of algorithmic stablecoin fragility, directly preceding and foreshadowing Terra Luna's larger collapse using identical mechanics in May 2022 at 50x scale.
🔥 Hall of Flame 80%🏆 Hall of Fame 48%
Iron Finance operated on the Polygon blockchain, offering IRON — a partially collateralized stablecoin backed 75% by USDC and 25% by its governance token TITAN.
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