Iron Finance
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anchored·4SQp1d…29YxSummary
Iron Finance was a multi-chain algorithmic stablecoin protocol deployed on Polygon and Binance Smart Chain in early 2021, best known for its IRON stablecoin partially collateralized by the protocol's native TITAN token. In June 2021, large token holders began liquidating their TITAN positions, triggering a negative feedback loop that drove TITAN from approximately $65 to near zero in a matter of hours and is widely cited as the first large-scale bank run in DeFi history. Estimated user losses reached approximately $2 billion, and the incident prompted prominent investor Mark Cuban — who publicly held positions in the protocol — to call for stablecoin regulation.
Connected Entities
1 entitiesTimeline(10 events)
2021-03
Iron Finance initially launches on Binance Smart Chain with the STEEL token as native collateral for IRON stablecoin.
Iron Finance Wikipedia; CryptoCurrency Wiki2021-05-18
Iron Finance expands to Polygon, launching the TITAN token as the Polygon-side collateral for IRON stablecoin.
Iron Finance Medium — Expansion to Polygon2021-06-09
TITAN reaches $1 billion TVL milestone on Polygon; the protocol publishes a celebratory announcement.
Iron Finance Medium — TVL milestone2021-06-13
Heavy social media promotion drives additional capital into Iron Finance; TITAN begins its final ascent fueled partly by notable endorsements including Mark Cuban.
Federal Reserve FEDS Notes — Runs on Algorithmic Stablecoins2021-06-15
Iron Finance TVL on Polygon peaks above $3 billion. TITAN reaches an all-time high of approximately $65.
DeFiLlama; CoinDesk2021-06-16
Around 10:00 UTC, large liquidity providers begin removing IRON/USDC liquidity and selling TITAN positions. TITAN drops from approximately $65 to $30 within roughly two hours. IRON breaks its $1 peg, falling toward $0.75. Redemption arbitrage activates, triggering continuous TITAN minting and a death spiral.
Iron Finance Post-Mortem; CoinDesk2021-06-17
TITAN collapses to near zero (recorded low approximately $0.000000035). IRON stablecoin loses most of its TITAN collateral backing. Iron Finance publishes a post-mortem characterizing the event as the 'world's first large-scale crypto bank run.' Estimated user losses reach approximately $2 billion.
Iron Finance Post-Mortem; CoinDesk; CoinGecko2021-06-17
Mark Cuban publicly discloses losses from the TITAN collapse and calls for stablecoin regulation, stating 'There should be regulation to define what a stable coin is and what collateralization is acceptable.'
Bloomberg; Decrypt2021-11
The U.S. President's Working Group on Financial Markets publishes a report recommending Congress enact legislation limiting stablecoin issuance to insured depository institutions, citing risks analogous to those demonstrated by the Iron Finance collapse.
President's Working Group Report on Stablecoins2022-06-02
The Federal Reserve publishes 'Runs on Algorithmic Stablecoins: Evidence from Iron, Titan, and Steel,' a transaction-level analysis of the collapse concluding that design flaws in the no-arbitrage mechanism were central to the failure.
Federal Reserve FEDS NotesDecision Log
- hash: BbVTtT3rBGcZr88wqgKuDg8Hb9MZV29JLP9AN7uKNn3x
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (1 event). 13 of 17 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-5
generated: 5/30/2026, 12:58:41 PM
last updated: 7/25/2026, 7:53:47 PM
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