Thursday 12 May 2022 10:50 PM TerraUSD founder Do Kwan faces criticism for market-wide crypto meltdown trends now
Do Kwon, the mastermind behind failing cryptocurrencies TerraUSD and Luna, is drawing scrutiny and criticism after the collapse of his venture triggered a massive meltdown in the broader crypto market this week.
Kwon, 29, is the brash CEO of Terraform Labs, the company behind the two related technologies: stablecoin TerraUSD, which is supposed to trade 1-to-1 with the US dollar, and governance token Luna, which is supposed to ensure the stable exchange rate.
Thanks in part to his big personality and confident pitch, Kwon was able to attract high-profile investors, including the venture capital arm of the major exchange Coinbase.
But after TerraUSD 'de-pegged' from the dollar this week, trading as low as 23 cents amid panicked selling, it triggered a broader meltdown that sent the largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, to its lowest level since 2020.
Issuer Luna plunged more than 99 percent in value on Thursday, and was trading at far below one cent, down from a high of $120 last month.
Now, a columnist for industry news site CoinDesk is calling Kwon 'the Elizabeth Holmes of crypto' in a stinging comparison to the convicted fraudster who fleeced investors for billions.
Terra co-founder Do Kwon (right, with Daniel Shin) is being compared to convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes after his crypto venture collapsed and triggered a broader market meltdown
TerraUSD is supposed to trade 1-to-1 with the US dollar, but 'de-pegged' from the dollar this week, trading as low as 23 cents amid panicked selling
Kwon's image has also not been helped by his longstanding habit of dismissing his critics as 'poor' and, just over a week ago, his gleeful comment in an interview that there is 'entertainment in watching companies die.'
A spokesperson for Kwon did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com on Thursday afternoon.
In a blistering column on Thursday, CoinDesk writer David Z. Morris compared Kwon to both Holmes and infamous Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling, who was convicted of felony fraud charges in that company's collapse.
'At the very least, he's doing a great impression of a man who really believes in what he's selling,' Morris wrote of Kwon.
'Despite reams of critical appraisals of the fundamental structure of Luna, Kwon not only stayed the course, but over the last 24 hours has angled to find more capital to flush through the holes in his sinking flagship,' the columnist added. 'He's nowhere near acknowledging that he put the holes there when
