Two popular digital coins collapsed in May, shocking investors. It wiped out $400bn (PS318bn), from many other cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin. People around the globe are begging for assistance after losing their life savings. After visiting the residence of the mysterious businessman at “cryptocrash”, one man became desperate and was even arrested. BBC News told him that his life was in ruin.
The volatile world of cryptocurrency can make or break fortunes quickly. However, the May 2022 cryptocrash in South Korea has proved to be particularly damaging for one man.
Chancers, a cryptocurrency streamer, says that “I felt like my life was over,” “I lost a lot in a very short time.” My cryptocurrency was destroyed by a loss of $2.4m (PS1.9m).
Chancers has been investing with cryptocurrencies since 2017 and claims that he became richer over the past five year as Bitcoin and other digital currencies rose in value.
“Here in Korea, I was in the top 1 percent in terms of my financial situation. He told BBC News that he is now in serious financial trouble because of the crash.
At the worst time possible, Chancers invested $800,000.
Terra Luna was first prominentized in December 2021 when each coin’s value began rising from $5 to $116 in April.
Like many others, Chancers placed a large bet that the coin would rise further.
It collapsed suddenly on May 9th, losing 99% in 48 hours.
Each Terra Luna coin has a value of less than $0.0002, or 2/3 of a penny.
Experts say Terra Luna’s collapse began when TerraUSD, its sister cryptocurrency, lost its value.
TerraUSD, a “stablecoin”, is a cryptocurrency token that can avoid large fluctuations in its value. Stablecoins are designed to be parity with assets like the US dollar. One token can equal $1.
However, TerraUSD’s value dropped and a panicked sale began. Terra Luna, which is algorithmically linked with TerraUSD, also fell.
The rest of cryptocurrency world saw the implosion with horror and pulled billions out of other digital currencies.
Do Kwon is at the center of all the chaos. He is a news-media shy man who invented both the Terra system and the Terra coins.
Many people reached out to the 30-year old on social media to seek answers and to find a way to save the situation.
In his desperate state, Chancers decided that he would go one step further.
Angrily, Mr Kwon had not communicated with him. He searched online for the address of the crypto millionaire in Seoul.
“I wanted him to tell me about his plans for Luna. Chancers says that he suffered a great loss and wanted to speak to him directly.
The streamer then traveled across the city to knock on Mr Kwon’s door.
He also decided that he would share the potential confrontation to his viewers and streamed it to around 100 people who were watching his AfreecaTV channel.
He was disappointed to hear that Mr Kwon’s wife answered and said her husband was not there.
He was later arrested by the police.
Local media captured the moment he arrived to Seoul’s Seongdong Police Station to be interrogated.
Chancers states that Chancers twice surrendered himself to the police station. “I didn’t trespass upon Do Kwon’s property. But according to Korean law it’s illegal to simply go there and try talking. “I didn’t know.”
Chancers states that he will most likely face both a fine or a criminal record, which could lead to difficulties in his life.
He said, “It’s so difficult.” “I lost a lot and now the police are investigating me. I was originally a Korean civil servant. If I’m convicted, I might not be allowed to return to the civil services again.
“In Korean culture, it is not the problem itself that is important. It is the fact that it caused scandal. Even though I was a sinner, I had to publicly apologize. This was a huge surprise to me. It is very sad.”
Although Chancers regrets not being able to speak directly with Mr Kwon, they say that cryptocurrency bosses cannot be held responsible for the failures of projects that have such an impact on so many people.
It is estimated that Terra coins had been invested by nearly 250,000 people.
Chancers accuse Mr Kwon, saying that he didn’t communicate publicly enough after and during the collapse of the coins. They are now a “scam”, he says.
Mr Kwon claims that neither he nor his company have made any money off the Terra coin collapse.
South Korean police stated that they were investigating Terraform Labs’ business. Local news outlets reported that the Financial and Securities Crime Joint Investigation Team was focused on the coins’ fall.
According to reports, Mr Kwon was behind Basis Cash, a failed cryptocurrency coin before Terra was launched in 2020.
One week before Terra’s death, he said to a YouTube channel that 95% of coins were going to die. However, it was also fun to watch companies die.
He tweeted his almost one million followers: “I love chaos” just before his $60bn creation started to collapse.
In a series of tweets over the next three days, he presented plan after plan for saving the coins. He urged the Terra community to “stay strong” and “hold tight”.
On 13 May, however, he admitted that the rescue was not possible and tweeted: “I am heartbroken at the pain my invention caused all of you.”
Mr Kwon now has a controversial plan to revive the Terra Luna coin.
However, prominent figures within the cryptocurrency community have criticized his approach.
Changpeng Zhao is the chief executive of Binance crypto exchange company. He described Mr Kwon’s plan as “wishful thought”.
Billy Markus, cofounder of Dogecoin, was equally harsh. He tweeted: “My recommendation to stop trying to attract new victims to finance the previous victims and to leave the space for ever.”
Terraform Labs and Mr Kwon did not respond to our requests for comment.
BBC Korean provides additional reporting
