Highlights •Algorithmic stablecoins are inherently fragile, as they are backed by bubble-like, self-issued tokens in a self-referencing manner, and often propped up by distortionary reward yields.•We use transaction-level blockchain data to examine the downfall of the Iron Finance algorithmic stablecoin (similar to Terra–Luna) in detail.•Retail users reacted more slowly to the ‘bank run’ at Iron Finance.
