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Crypto companies had several ads in the Super Bowl this year. Ordinary people were sucked in by promises of foolproof returns and delirious web3-metaverse jargo
by pavlov 4y ago
Crypto companies had several ads in the Super Bowl this year. Ordinary people were sucked in by promises of foolproof returns and delirious web3-metaverse jargon that sounded like something important is happening.
The Terra/Luna token was created by a South Korean company. These quotes are from reporting by the Financial Times:
“As the losses mounted, South Korean press reports linked the crash with a local surge in online searches for Seoul’s Mapo Bridge, a reputed suicide spot. Local police announced increased patrols around the bridge in response.”
‘“Do Kwon was like a successful cult leader,” said Donghwan Kim of Blitz Labs, a Seoul-based crypto advisory firm. “But now he’s the most hated man in Korea.”’
Venture capital lended an aura of legitimacy to the cult-like operation:
“Individual investors had been attracted by a scheme in which clients could lend out their terra for a 20 per cent yield. But hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in Terraform Labs came from venture capital firms including Galaxy Digital, whose chief executive Mike Novogratz would later acquire a luna tattoo on his left shoulder.”
‘“Commitments from some of the most respected funds is a testament to the shared vision of bringing decentralised finance to the masses,” Kwon declared in July last year.’
‘“About Won14tn-Won15tn was deposited in just one year after they began to offer the 20 per cent yield,” Kwon’s former colleague said. “Retail investors were lured by the high yield, while venture capital was attracted by the coins’ fast growth. The speed of growth was unsustainable.”’
15 trillion won is 12 billion USD. The scale of the scam was massive, and it’s possibly only the first crypto domino to fall.
- astoor 4y agoIf these scams and frauds are being fueled and legitimised by the venture capitalists, and the venture capitalists are US regulated, shouldn't the regulators be going after the venture capitalists? Even a few seconds of amateur due diligence (e.g. the time it takes to read "20% guaranteed annual return with zero risk") would have set off alarm bells, so they must have known they were aiding and abetting criminal activity.
- pavlov 4y agoUS laws are designed for investor protection, and VCs are investors. Probably it would be very hard to prove that they were co-conspirators.
- xg15 4y ago> But hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in Terraform Labs came from venture capital firms including Galaxy Digital, whose chief executive Mike Novogratz would later acquire a luna tattoo on his left shoulder.” Waiting for the moment where he reveals it was an adhesive tattoo.
- cinntaile 4y agohttps://mobile.twitter.com/stablekwon/ https://mobile.twitter.com/stablekwon/ Do Kwon is apparently in the process of launching Luna 2.0, he's been retweeting the listing of that crypto on several exchanges. I don't know if I should laugh or cry.
- low_tech_love 4y agoSomeone shorted his chain before he had the opportunity to do it himself. He just wants a second chance!
- cormacrelf 4y agoI heard it was not going to be linked to a corresponding UST 2.0. If that’s the case it’s just your average cryptocurrency, ie people invest because they love the community or whatever at first and later because in crypto All Upward Trends Continue Indefinitely, Do Kwon pumps for a while then sells his magical glitter to these poor stupid sheep, invests the proceeds in legal fees defending criminal charges and rehabilitating his image to do it all again. You’ve got to be in stablecoins or something equivalently complex and mystifying to run a really high yield Ponzi, but you can settle for a normal crypto when your chips are down and you just need a bit of cash.