After Terra’s stablecoin implosion, battered investors ask ‘where is Do Kwon?’

Quick Take

  • After TerraUSD (UST) collapsed this week, some investors are angry. 
  • Kwon’s wife has reportedly requested police protection in South Korea.

With angry investors facing heavy losses following TerraUSD’s dramatic de-pegging this week, users on the Terra Research Forum and Reddit are now asking where Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon is and even calling for his arrest.

The Terra crypto ecosystem was thrown into chaos this week when its TerraUSD (UST) algorithmic stablecoin de-pegged sharply from the US dollar. The crisis has seen both the price of UST and its related Luna token tumble, resulting in billions of dollars of losses for investors. 

Normally a prolific Twitter user, Kwon hasn’t posted on the social network since Wednesday. His last personal post was a thread reassuring investors that Terra was “here to stay” and that its return to form would be “a sight to behold.” Updates continue to trickle through from the company’s official account.

Kwon didn’t respond to requests for comment from The Block sent to Terraform Labs by email. 

In the US, Permissionless attendees who were hoping they might get answers from Kwon in person at the conference in Florida next week have also been left disappointed. Initially slated as a speaker on the panel “Stablecoins! Crypto’s Killer App,” Kwon has been scrubbed from the event website’s speaker list.

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Kwon’s last known location was Singapore, where Terraform Labs and the Luna Foundation Guard are headquartered. That said, this is not confirmed and he hasn’t been spotted publicly in days.

Kwon’s family however are currently in his native South Korea. Last month his wife gave birth to their first child, a daughter named Luna, who he said was named after his “greatest invention.” 

On Friday, South Korean news outlet Money Today reported his wife is seeking emergency police protection after a man was able to enter their apartment complex in the Seongdong District of Seoul. According to the report, the intruder knocked on their door on Thursday evening and demanded to know whether Kwon was home before fleeing.

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© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Author

Callan Quinn is an NFT, gaming and metaverse reporter. She started her career working for the expat magazine City Weekend in Guangzhou, China. She also has worked as a business journalist in the UK, Somaliland and the republic of Georgia. Before joining The Block, she was a freelance journalist covering the Chinese tech industry. She speaks Mandarin, French and German. Get in touch via Twitter @quinnishvili or email [email protected].