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Until just a few days ago, D.S. thought that investing in cryptocurrencies was one of the best decisions of his life. He had €80,000 ($84,300) worth in Luna – double the €40,000 ($42,200) he had invested almost a year ago. Today, when he opens the application to see how much of that he has left, the vision is bleak: €4 ($4.22). “It seemed like one of the safest bets. Even when bitcoin was losing value, luna was hitting all-time highs. They were going to launch lots of projects and they were backed by investment funds, ”says the 32-year-old Spaniard, who has seen most of his savings evaporate in just three days after the collapse of the digital currency.
His story is repeated across the world. Luna was created by Terraform Labs, which is owned by 30-year-old Do Kwon from South Korea. Up until just a few days ago, it was considered one of the sector’s biggest success stories. Last week, before the collapse, one young Luna investor described Kwon as a “visionary, the Elon Musk of the future.” Tens of thousands of small-time investors around the world threw their money into Luna, which was once valued at $18 billion. But opinions about Kwon have changed now as investors come to terms with their losses. On forums such as Reddit, once-enthusiastic backers commiserate over their losses, with some users expressing suicidal thoughts. And now Kwon fears for his safety. After the Luna crash, a stranger broke into the premises of Kwon’s apartment rang the doorbell, and asked his spouse if her husband was at home before running away from the premises. Kwon’s wife has reportedly sought police protection.
It is a disturbing end to a period of untrammeled euphoria. When the value of Luna went from $4 in February 2021 to $60 in the same month of 2022 – multiplying fifteen-fold in just one year – questions were not raised about the sudden spike, instead, it…
