May 26, 2022
Did Terra (LUNA) Have An “Off Switch”?
A video recently surfaced from Terra (LUNA) founder Do Kwon describing an “off switch” for Terraform Labs; the video is going viral on the social media platform Twitter. A slew of conspiracy theories and rumors surrounding Terraform Labs and its founder Do Kwon have arisen following the TerraUSD (UST) de-pegging event earlier this month. Recently, comments from blockchain founder Do Kwon in a 2021 interview caused an uprising on social media: pic.twitter.com/DEmlL3UR06
In the video, Do Kwon talks about an “Armageddon Protocol,” which is an off switch that would allow Terraform Labs to burn all assets and cut all ties within 24 hours:
“If we feel that we are no longer able to better serve the community, we will pull the trigger,” Do Kwon said at the time. “This is in case things move a little faster than we anticipate,” he added.
Although his comments have given rise to much speculation, it is unlikely that this tool was ever employed by Terraform Labs; As some users on Twitter pointed out, this measure would likely have served to remove Terraform Labs’ ability to control Terra and further decentralize it in case regulators hunted down the company.
“In retrospect, I don’t think this is necessarily harmful — it may just be another decentralization measure — but it does indicate some level of planning regarding what is happening this week,” FatMan, a member of the Terra Research Forum, wrote on Twitter. “Also, downloading the project doesn’t magically erase your debts”.
