Do Kwon & The Korean Comeback Cycle

In 2022, Do Kwon’s Terra ecosystem erased over $40 billion in four days. We took three cameras and a miniDV to Seoul to film the country he left behind. Around The Block: Korea — Do Kwon & the Korean Comeback Cycle is a feature documentary from The Block on modern South Korean history and the future of its crypto market. The Terra/LUNA collapse. The Bybit hack and North Korea’s Lazarus Group. Hell Joseon, PC bangs and MapleStory, Hallyu, Korea Blockchain Week, and the won stablecoin bill now in front of the National Assembly. In 1997, the IMF crisis broke the won and citizens lined up to donate their gold. In 2018, Do Kwon built a currency that had to manufacture its own demand — and it died the moment that demand left. The lawmakers, gamemakers and funds still in Seoul are building a different one — one built on demand the world has already chosen. This is the Korean Comeback Cycle.

FEATURING

Cindy Yang — Head of Community, BNB Chain
Dr Laurence Day — Co-Founder & CEO, Wildcat Labs
Ben Zhou — Co-Founder & CEO, Bybit
Yoann Turpin — Co-Founder, Wintermute
Jeongheon “Keith” Kim — COO, MapleStory Universe (NEXPACE)
Baek Kim — General Partner, Hashed
Min Byoung-duk — Lawmaker, Democratic Party of Korea

Archival footage of Do Kwon courtesy of Evan Schindler, Founder — Bites Digital Group