The collapse of TerraUSD and its sister cryptocurrency, LUNA left investors facing over $45 billion in losses. Do Kwon is believed to be hiding and is now facing multiple lawsuits regarding his role in the crash. As of 2023, Do Kwon has an estimated net worth of $10 million. Before the collapse of Luna, he was worth over $100 million!
Background
Kwon Do-Hyung was born on September 6, 1991, in Seoul, South Korea. This is where many of his projects were based but not much is known about his early life. He immigrated to Canada and relocated to Stanford for further his education.
At Stanford University he got a degree in computer science. Afterwards, he briefly worked as a software engineer for Microsoft and Apple but returned home to South Korea a year later.
Crypto Career
In 2016, Do Kwon created a peer-to-peer communications company named Anify. He served as the firm’s CEO until 2017 and then ventured into the crypto industry. In 2018, he co-founded Terraform Labs with business executive Daniel Shin.
The company’s goal was to produce a decentralized stablecoin that would maintain its value. The corporation also created the LUNA token, which is utilized as a native currency on the Terra blockchain. It also supervised the creation of CHAI, an e-commerce platform that used UST.
UST and LUNA’s Status
UST and LUNA gained widespread recognition in the crypto space with early investors banking impressive returns. However, in May 2022 the house of cards fell apart. UST depegged and its price is now languishing at 2 cents. Because LUNA is directly linked to UST and dropped 99.99%.
These price changes had a massive ripple effect on Bitcoin and the wider market. Many folks saw a significant portion of their life savings disappear. The Terra blockchain is now a ghost and most exchanges remove the cryptocurrency.
Net Worth and Earnings
Before all the problems, Do Kwon and his business were booming. Major crypto firms like Binance, Arrington XRP, and Polychain Capital together invested $32 million into Terra.
In 2017, the young entrepreneur featured in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list in Asia and his future looked bright. Sadly, the crypto ecosystem he built is gone and could end up in jail. Do Kwon had plans to relaunch again but it’s unlikely he’ll get the opportunity.
Where is he now?
He’s facing multiple lawsuits from disgruntled investors and the South Korean government is looking for him. Apparently, 200,000 South Koreans were impacted by the crash. His exact whereabouts are unknown, some people have speculated he left Dubai in October 2022 and is now in Serbia as it doesn’t have an extradition treaty with South Korea.
Personal Life
Kwon is a very private person and isn’t very open about his personal affairs. However, it’s known he’s married and has a daughter living in South Korea. He ironically named his child LUNA after his “greatest creation”. In May 2022, his wife had to file for police protection after an investor who lost $2 million, trespassed into Kwon’s building.
