Do Kwon #18

Co-founder and CEO of Terraform Labs

Do Kwon & Co-founder and CEO of Terraform Labs & background` Do Kwon & Co-founder and CEO of Terraform Labs & poster`
Do Kwon & Co-founder and CEO of Terraform Labs
Category Tech
person-quote
In order to have decentralized finance, you need to decentralize money. [...] [When] there’s on-chain monetary policy that is credible and easy to understand, then I think that’s going to make things better for almost everyone.

Biography:

Do Kwon is a South Korean crypto entrepreneur best known for co-founding Terraform Labs in January 2018 and leading the company as its CEO. Terraform Labs operates the Terra blockchain ecosystem, which is powered by its native LUNA token. Kwon is a Stanford University graduate who specialized in computer science, with a stronghold in numerous programming languages including C++, Java and Python.

Before delving into crypto via Terraform Labs, Kwon was the founder and CEO of Anyfi, a telecommunications company focused on building peer-to-peer connectivity solutions for last-mile communications. The entrepreneur also worked as a software engineer for tech goliaths Microsoft and Apple.

Kwon’s involvement in the world of blockchain extends to other popular crypto projects such as Anchor Protocol and Mirror Protocol. In 2019, Kwon earned a place on Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list as a top leader in the finance and venture capital category. Kwon has also made several personal multimillion-dollar investments in crypto-centric firms such as Flint, Iron Fish, pSTAKE and Ape Board.

Kwon’s 2021:

Early on in January, Terraform Labs received a $25 million injection through a funding round co-led by Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital. The following month, the company launched Terraform Capital, which started with $10 million in seed funding. The initiative is aimed at building early-stage community projects and driving integrations of Terra’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, TerraUSD, and governance token, LUNA, throughout decentralized finance by covering the cost of security audits.

One of Terra’s biggest milestones was the March launch of Anchor Protocol, which allows users to borrow or save their stablecoins and proof-of-stake assets. By mid-year, the company had been on the receiving end of numerous fundraises, including a $150 million round led by major crypto investors such as Pantera Capital and BlockTower Capital. 

Kwon sought to penetrate the Asian market in 2021, led by the “Think with Terra Ideathon,” a four-month-long program for Indian developers that is dedicated to building blockchain-based payment use cases across various business verticals.

Kwon also participated in numerous fundings throughout the year for companies including mobile DeFi app Alice and new blockchain network Flare Network. However, tagging along with his company’s growth trajectory, Kwon also dealt with several hurdles imposed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, which claimed Kwon and Terraform Labs violated federal securities laws.

Kwon’s 2022:

In January, the company launched a nonprofit organization called Luna Foundation Guard, investing over $4.1 billion. The nonprofit focuses on the Terra ecosystem and seeks to stabilize the volatility of LUNA by backing it with TerraUSD.

In 2022, Terraform Labs is expected to spend $40 million to mark its entry into professional sports. Furthermore, the company participated in an $80 million funding round for Qredo, a decentralized layer-2 infrastructure for the custody and settlement of digital assets. Despite the ongoing dispute with the federal regulators, Kwon is expected to maintain his investment streak while continuing to expand Terra’s offerings. The entrepreneur is also placing his bets on the future potential of Anchor Protocol’s ANC token.