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11 Facts About Do Kwon, The Founder of Terra Luna That Everyone is Hating On Now

2022-05-22 , 11:16 am

Last Updated on 2022-05-23 , 5:32 pm

By now, no matter whether you dabble in cryptocurrency or not, you’d have heard about the massive Terra Luna crash.

If you’re one of the few who still don’t know what’s going on, you can watch this short 2.5-minute video to become smarter:

You’ve heard of people losing millions of dollars in the Terra Luna saga, and even crypto firms’ CEOs and founders weren’t spared.

But did you know that the founding company of the Luna Terra cryptocurrency is based in Singapore? And that a netizen had actually filed a police report against the founder?

If you prefer to watch a video about this topic, here’s one we’ve done:

Now, here are 11 facts about Do Kwon, the founder of Terra Luna that everyone’s hating on now.

1. Who is Do Kwon?

Do Kwon was born in South Korea in 1991. In 2010, Do Kwon started his education at Stanford University and graduated in 2015 with a degree in computer science.

Not much is known about the eccentric founder’s early life and career but he said he had worked at Microsoft as a business partner as well as at Apple.

2. A Failed Stablecoin Project

Terra Luna wasn’t Do Kwon’s first failed crypto project.

Back in 2020, Do Kwon created the stablecoin project Basis Cash under the pseudonym, Rick Sanchez.

Basis Cash shared similarities to his other project TerraUSD (UST) which ties the value of the coin to the U.S. dollar through code instead of holding cash and less risky assets as backing.

The project was abandoned and it never reached its dollar value.

3. Founded Terraform Labs in 2018

Do Kwon founded Terraform Labs with his partner, Daniel Shin, in 2018; and almost immediately, the firm aroused the interest of investors.

The startup raised $150 million in funding, and in August of that same year, raised another $32 million.

Terraform Labs’ investors include big names such as Binance, OKX, Huobi Group, and Upbit.

4. Attracted 40 Million Users To Work With His Company At Launch

In 2019, Do Kwon made it into the Forbes 30-under-30 list.

Part of the reason was that, at the launch party of Terraform, he managed to attract 40 million users to work with his company.

2021 was a particularly good year for him, with Luna rising to $99 by December of that year.

This was after Luna had been trading at $1 for years.

5. Not Polite To Frenemies Or Their Users

Do Kwon, other than his successes, was also well-known for not being polite to competitors and haters.

Back in 2020, Do Kwon criticised investors of other stablecoin projects in a tweet and asked them to “bow before the king”.

While DeFi degens are busy trapping retail in zero sum games in @emptysetsquad @BasisCash, recall the only real stabilizing force in algo stablecoins is growing adoption and usage@terra_money is the oldest and most widely used algo stablecoin in existance

Bow before the king

— Do Kwon 🌕 (@stablekwon) December 30, 2020

He also called haters “poor” and predicted that they would “stay poor” for not supporting him and his projects.

I don’t debate the poor on Twitter, and sorry I don’t have any change on me for her at the moment.

— Do Kwon 🌕 (@stablekwon) July 1, 2021

About a week before Terra lost its peg to the U.S. dollar, Do Kwon had bragged that it was good to see companies die:

Do Kwon: “95% are going to die [coins], but there’s also entertainment in watching companies die too”

8 days ago. Ironic. pic.twitter.com/fEQMZIyd9a

— Pedr🌐 (@EncryptedPedro) May 11, 2022

6. Blamed For Crypto Market Crash

Do Kwon is now called the “Elizabeth Holmes” of the cryptocurrency market.

Many are blaming him for causing the crypto crash and his family isn’t having a good time either.

On 13 May, Do Kwon’s wife sought emergency police protection after an unidentified individual broke into their apartment building and rang their doorbell.

The individual left after asking if Do Kwon was home.

7. Unflinching Confidence

If there’s one thing to be said about Do Kwon, it’s the confidence he has in himself to survive the crisis.

Even after his stablecoin project failed, Do Kwon never issued an official public apology to his investors.

Instead, he told them that “Terra’s return to form will be a sight to behold”.

On 18 May 2022, Do Kwon put forth a proposal to split the Terra blockchain into two. The two blockchains will operate at the same time but for different functions.

The new blockchain will have Luna as its cryptocurrency while the UST stablecoin would be left behind in the old blockchain.

At the time of writing, the proposal has over 63% voting yes, about 20% abstaining and another 16.6% voting no.

8. Currently Facing Legal Prosecution in South Korea

On 20 May, it was reported that Do Kwon is currently facing legal prosecution in South Korea.

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office said that they are launching an investigation on Terraform Labs.

The case has been assigned to its Financial and Securities Crime Joint Investigation Team.

This came about after five Korea-based crypto investors with combined damages of 1.4 billion won (about $1.1 million) filed criminal complaints against Do Kwon and his partner, Shin.

Charges against the duo include fraud and other financial regulations violations.

9. Do Kwon: “No Tax Liabilities in South Korea”

It was also reported that Do Kwon is facing a tax fine of 100 billion won ($78 million) for corporate and income tax evasions.

However, Do Kwon responded on Twitter that his company does not have outstanding tax liabilities in South Korea.

He added that his company has paid their dues in full after a tax audit; and that Terraform Labs have “nothing to hide”.

10. Hasn’t Reached Out To LFG Since UST and Luna Crash

The Luna Foundation Guard (LFG) was set up to support the Terra ecosystem. However, when Terra Luna crashed, the LFG was silent.

On 16 May, LFG finally broke radio silence and revealed that, out of their original reserves of 80,394 Bitcoin, it only has 313 Bitcoin left.

They are planning to use the remaining reserves to pay back the “smallest investors” first.

On 20 May 2022, it was reported that the LFG did not have any conversations with Do Kwon and his team of advisers ever since the UST crashed.

Meanwhile, Do Kwon revealed that he has been in Singapore since December 2021.

I’ve been in Singapore since last December – this is a personal decision and has long been planned. I’ve been open about being located in Singapore across multiple interviews and podcasts

Shutting down a company just takes some time, and timing is purely coincidental

— Do Kwon 🌕 (@stablekwon) May 21, 2022

11. Police Report Made in Singapore

It’s not just South Korea; on 14 May 2022, Reddit user u/ponzipolice had uploaded images from a complete police report up to Reddit that was filed by “a concerned citizen” who has lost money due to the Luna Cryptocurrency “scam”.

It’s unclear if the user was the one who made the police report.

The motivation behind the report was to “seek justice for all those who have lost their money” and was targeted at Do Kwon.

The main gripe the man had with the entire Luna Terra crash situation was essentially him and other investors facing a loss despite being told that the UST currency was sold to them as a stablecoin.

Couching on that notion that one should not fail because he has bought a stablecoin, the person proceeds to dub the founders of the Luna Terra cryptocurrency as masters of a “ponzi scam”.

Unfortunately for the person who made the police report, it was less than popular among netizens.

You can read more here.