As regulators investigate whether Do Kwon — who founded Terraform Labs — was running a Ponzi scheme in the wake of the stunning demise of the UST stablecoin and the Luna governance token last month, the embattled CEO is fiercely defending his actions.
Kwon said in a recent interview that he was “devastated” by the dramatic collapse of the dual tokens and hopes investors that were affected by the tragic events that ensued as his inventions lost virtually all of their value are “taking care of themselves and those that they love”.
“There’s A Difference Between Failing And Running A Fraud” — Do Kwon
Terra’s implosion will be remembered as one of the darkest moments in crypto history. Most people have accused Kwon of masterminding an elaborate crypto-fraud scheme that saw investors losing billions of dollars worth of wealth.
However, the Terra creator says he really believed in the project and its failure was an honest shortfall, not a lengthy and sophisticated deception.
“I made confident bets and made confident statements on behalf of UST because I believed in its resilience and its value proposition,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “I’ve since lost these bets, but my actions 100% match my words. There is a difference between failing and running a fraud.”
Kwon became a crypto billionaire earlier this year following LUNA and UST’s meteoric rally. By April, LUNA had skyrocketed past $118 on major crypto exchanges and its paper value had ballooned to $40 billion. Five weeks later, it careened to zero. The implosion of the two twin tokens, he said, resulted in him losing almost all of his net worth. However, he’s supposedly thrifty, and losing a huge chunk of his total assets “doesn’t bother” him.
Kwon Has ‘Great Confidence’ In Rebuilding Terra Network From The Ashes
Hundreds of thousands of Terra investors painfully witnessed their holdings evaporate in days after the spectacular wipeout. It’s no wonder Kwon and Terraform Labs have been slapped with multiple lawsuits in the United States and also in South Korea following the UST cataclysm.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also launched an investigation to determine whether the South Korean entrepreneur violated federal investor protection laws through the marketing of UST.
The plan to put Terra back on track is already in motion. After the hard fork in May, Terra launched a new blockchain without the UST stablecoin in a bid to save the ecosystem from fading into obscurity.
In the interview with the Wall Street Journal, Kwon asserted he has “great confidence in our ability to build back even stronger than we once were.” “Many builders are in the process of relaunching their apps on the new chain,” the Terra co-founder summarized.