Young founder of Luna emerges as cryptocurrency tycoon

Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon / Courtesy of Kwon's LinkedIn page

By Lee Min-hyung

Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs, is emerging as a young cryptocurrency tycoon, with its Terra stablecoin and Luna token achieving outstanding success amid their dynamic ecosystem expansion.

Luna is the world's eighth-most valuable cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, according to data from market aggregator CoinGecko. Luna has rapidly risen to the ranks of the globally influential cryptocurrency with a high annual staking reward.

This rise has made headlines here, as no Korean entrepreneur has so far become such a global sensation in the global cryptocurrency industry.

Kwon has also recently drawn the spotlight after Terra purchased more than $1.5 billion (1.85 trillion won) in Bitcoin, as part of his efforts to back the stablecoin. He reaffirmed his plan to keep doing so.

His company is considered the world's second-largest decentralized finance platform operator after Ethereum.

Kwon studied computer science in Stanford University. He then worked as an engineer at global IT giants ― such as Apple and Microsoft. After finishing his mandatory military service, he founded Anyfi, a peer-to-peer WiFi sharing app in 2015.

The following year, he began to develop a keen interest in cryptocurrencies. In 2018, he established Terraform with Ticket Monster founder Shin Hyun-sung.

Kwon has repeatedly expressed his strong confidence that Terra will become the world's largest stablecoin in two years, citing growing demand and the power to expand its ecosystem.

Last month, he also said Terra will pave the way for a new era of cryptocurrencies and pledged to continue purchasing Bitcoin worth more than $10 billion for the next few years.