$BTC
The Curious Case of Do Kwon & the $60 Billion Crash
aka the fall of Terra Luna and UST
🌕 The Rise
In 2021, a South Korean entrepreneur named Do Kwon launched Terra, a blockchain project with two major tokens:
LUNA – the native token of the Terra blockchain
UST – a “stablecoin” algorithmically pegged to $1
Kwon claimed that UST would be the future of decentralized money. It wasn’t backed by real dollars, like USDT or USDC, but by smart code and market incentives. Millions believed him.
Venture capitalists poured in. Influencers praised him. At its peak, Terra’s ecosystem was worth over $60 billion. Do Kwon became a crypto celebrity, known for trolling critics on Twitter with phrases like “your size is not size” and “I don’t debate the poor.”
---
🔥 The Collapse (May 2022)
Suddenly, UST lost its $1 peg. As panic spread, people tried to cash out. But the more they exited, the more LUNA had to be printed to keep UST alive.
This created a death spiral.
UST fell to $0.90
LUNA inflated from $80 to… $0.01
Billions were wiped out in days
Entire life savings were lost
Reddit and Twitter were filled with heartbreaking stories
One Reddit user posted:
> “I lost $450,000 — my entire retirement. I don’t know what to do.”
---
🕵️♂️ The Aftermath
Do Kwon vanished. He fled South Korea and was later arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 with fake documents.
Interpol issued a red notice for his arrest.
Investors demanded justice.
The case shook regulators worldwide and became a symbol of why algorithmic stablecoins might be too dangerous.
🤯 Why It Matters
The Terra crash wasn’t just about one project failing — it exposed how untested systems and blind hype can destroy billions. It taught both investors and regulators a hard lesson: in crypto, innovation without stability can implode fast.
And Do Kwon? He’s still fighting extradition as of 2025. His story is one of the most dramatic in crypto history — part genius, part hubris, and all real.
