{"id":31084,"date":"2022-05-24T00:12:08","date_gmt":"2022-05-24T00:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/05\/24\/cryptocrash-i-was-arrested-for-knocking-on-luna-bosss-door\/"},"modified":"2022-05-24T00:12:08","modified_gmt":"2022-05-24T00:12:08","slug":"cryptocrash-i-was-arrested-for-knocking-on-luna-bosss-door","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/05\/24\/cryptocrash-i-was-arrested-for-knocking-on-luna-bosss-door\/","title":{"rendered":"Cryptocrash: \u2018I was arrested for knocking on Luna boss’s door’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The sudden collapse of two popular digital coins in early May shocked investors, erasing $400 billion (\u00a3318 billion) from the value of many other cryptocurrencies, including the largest, Bitcoin. All over the world people who have lost their life savings are asking for help. A desperate man was even arrested after visiting the home of the elusive businessman at the center of the “crypto crash.” He told BBC News his life was in shambles.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Fortunes can be made and lost quickly in the volatile world of cryptocurrencies \u2014 but the May 2022 crypto crash was particularly devastating for a man in South Korea.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“I felt like I was dying,” says the cryptocurrency streamer known as Chancers. \u201cI lost a lot of money in a short period of time. Around $2.4 million (\u00a31.9 million) of my cryptocurrency was wiped out.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Chancers has been investing in cryptocurrencies since 2017 and says he’s gotten rich over the past five years as the value of bitcoin and other digital coins soared.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cHere in Korea, I was in the top 1% financially. But thanks to the crash I’m in trouble now,” he told BBC News.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Chancers invested $800,000 of its money in a digital token called Terra Luna at the worst possible time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Terra Luna came to prominence in December 2021 when the value of each coin started to increase \u2013 from $5 to a peak of $116 in April of this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Like many people, Chancers made a big bet that the coin would keep going up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But then, on May 9, it suddenly collapsed, losing 99% of its value in just 48 hours.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Now each Terra Luna coin is worth less than $0.0002, or two-hundredths of a cent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Terra Luna’s demise began when sister cryptocurrency TerraUSD suddenly plummeted in value, experts say.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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TerraUSD is a so-called “stablecoin”, a cryptocurrency token that is intended to avoid major fluctuations in value. The companies behind stablecoins are trying to make sure they stay the same with assets like the US dollar \u2014 say, a $1 token.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But as the value of TerraUSD plummeted, a panic sell-off began and Terra Luna — algorithmically linked to TerraUSD — plummeted at the same time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The rest of the cryptocurrency world watched in horror as the implosion pulled billions of dollars from other digital currencies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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At the center of the chaos is Do Kwon, a notoriously media-shy man who invented the Terra system on which both coins were built.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Thousands of people turned to the 30-year-old on social media for answers and a plan to rescue the situation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But in desperation, Chancers decided to go one step further.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Angry at Mr. Kwon’s lack of communication, he searched online and found the crypto millionaire’s home address in Seoul.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“I wanted to ask him about his plans for Luna. I’ve suffered a great loss and wanted to speak to him directly,” says Chancers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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So the streamer traveled through his hometown and knocked on Mr. Kwon’s door. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He also decided to share the potential confrontation with his viewers and broadcast the event to about 100 people watching his online AfreecaTV channel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He was disappointed when Mr. Kwon’s wife answered the door and said her husband wasn’t there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Worse was to come when the police were alerted and he was arrested.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Local media captured the moment he arrived at Seongdong Police Station in Seoul for questioning.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“I turned myself in to the police station twice,” says Chancers. “I haven’t entered Do Kwon’s property – but under Korean law, it’s illegal to just walk up there and try to talk. I did not know it.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\n
    \n
  • Stablecoin collapse sends crypto tokens reeling<\/li>\n
  • How Gen Z is addicted to cryptocurrency and NFTs<\/li>\n
  • \u201cHackers Helped Me Find My Lost Bitcoin Fortune\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
    \n

    Chancers says he will most likely face a fine and criminal record which could make life difficult for him. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    “It’s so difficult,” he says. \u201cI lost a lot of money and now the police are investigating me. I originally served as a civil servant in Korea – but if I am convicted in this case, I may not be able to return to civil service. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    “In Korean culture, what matters is not the issue itself, but the fact that it caused a scandal. I even had to apologize publicly as a sinner. I had no idea this was going to get this big. It’s very sad.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Chancers regrets trying to speak to Mr. Kwon directly but says cryptocurrency bosses are not to be blamed for failed projects that affect so many people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    It was estimated that nearly 250,000 people had invested in the Terra Coins.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Chancers accuses Mr. Kwon of not communicating publicly enough during and since the coin’s collapse. He now calls them “scams”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Mr. Kwon says neither he nor his company made any money from the collapse of Terra Coins.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    On Friday, South Korean police announced they were investigating his business, Terraform Labs, with local news outlets reporting that the joint financial and securities crime investigation team is focused on the coins’ downfall.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Prior to the launch of Terra in 2020, Mr. Kwon was reportedly behind another failed cryptocurrency coin, Basis Cash.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    A week before Terra’s demise, he told a YouTube crypto channel, “95% [of coins] will die – but it’s also fun to watch companies die.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Just before his $60 billion creation began to implode, he tweeted to his nearly one million followers on Twitter, “I love chaos.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Over the next three days, in a flurry of tweets, he launched plan after plan to save the coins, urging the Terra community to “hold on” and “stay strong.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    But on May 13, he acknowledged the rescue had failed, tweeting, “I am heartbroken by the pain my invention has caused you all.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Now Mr. Kwon has come up with a controversial plan to revive the Terra Luna coin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    But prominent figures in the cryptocurrency community have criticized his approach.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Changpeng Zhao, chief executive of crypto exchange firm Binance, described Mr. Kwon’s plan as “wishful thinking.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Billy Markus, co-founder of popular cryptocurrency Dogecoin, was also scathing, tweeting, “My recommendation is to stop trying to attract new victims to fund the previous victims and leave the space forever.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Neither Mr. Kwon nor Terraform Labs responded to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Additional coverage from BBC Korean<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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