A selloff in a cryptocurrency that was supposed to be pegged to $1 accelerated 11 May, sending its price to less than a quarter of that value.

TerraUSD traded at 24 cents on 11 May, according to data from CoinDesk, wiping out more than $10bn in market capitalisation in the span of a few hours. A so-called stablecoin, this breed of cryptocurrencies had gained favour among traders for being the one part of the crypto universe that was revered for its stability.