The Proposal: A Bet Worth Millions
One fun day back on March 14, 2022, cryptocurrency trader GiganticRebirth, or GCR for short, made a daring move into the volatile world of digital assets. He threw down the gauntlet to Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon, proposing a staggering bet of $10 million. The challenge? Kwon had to wager that the price of Terra Luna (LUNC) wouldn’t drop below $92.4 within the year. Spoiler alert: it pretty much did the opposite.
A Second Bet and Escrow Shenanigans
As if one bet wasn’t juicy enough, the day before GCR’s audacious challenge, another crypto trader—Algod—had already pitched Kwon a related bet: $1 million that the price of LUNC would drop below $88 by March 13, 2023. With both bets accepted, we’re talking a whopping $22 million held in escrow by the blockchain personality Cobie. Talk about keeping it in the family (or, in this case, the blockchain).
Cobie vs. The Wilderness
Picture this: Cobie, while on vacation in Africa, suddenly finds himself the guardian of $22 million in crypto. He claimed to have been given the keys to a hot wallet on his mobile phone. Cue the tent and lions! “I didn’t want 22m on a mobile tent while I was living in a tent amongst lions lmao,” Cobie later quipped. Clearly, crypto is more than just numbers—it’s a lifestyle!
When It All Came Crashing Down
Not long after this adrenaline-pumping wager, the entire Terra ecosystem—worth about $40 billion—imploded like a bad soufflé. By the time Cobie was ready to cash out, LUNC was trading close to zero, reminiscent of that sad $1 lottery ticket you thought might change your life.
Financial Brouhaha and Legal Trouble
Oh, but the chaos didn’t stop there. Cobie recalled that he had paid out the bets shortly after LUNC’s value plummeted, only to attempt buying enough Luna to hedge his bets—talk about a facepalm moment. Unfortunately, his hedge was stashed away at FTX, the now-imfamous exchange that filed for bankruptcy just months later, leaving over a million creditors and their funds in limbo. And to sweeten the pot, Kwon found himself facing a red notice arrest warrant, ballooning the drama even further. Who knew crypto could mimic a Netflix original?
Reflection and Lessons Learned
On the one-year anniversary of this rollercoaster ride, Algod took to Twitter, reflecting on his $1 million bet. He noted how easy it is to make judgments in hindsight, with critics previously ridiculing him for betting against Luna. As he pointed out in a rather philosophical tone: “The masses are often wrong, was a great lesson.” So, to sum it up, if there’s one thing we can all learn from this saga, it’s to never underestimate the unpredictability of the crypto world—or the humorous instincts of its players.
