The Terra Blockchain with Do Kwon

Today we have an extra special, in-depth interview for our listeners, as we speak to Do Kwon, the founder and CEO of Terraform Labs and the Terra blockchain, as well as former ARK analyst James Wang.

Terra is in the top 30 of the thousands of different blockchains that currently exist, and as Do explains in the conversation, it has some interesting features that set it apart from its so-called peers. We get to hear about the two tokens that Terra offers, the stablecoin[1] TerraUSD (UST), and Luna, and the decision behind branching out in this way. This leads to some thoughts on why Terra has more mainstream applicability than some other crypto companies, and how this is playing out currently on the backend.

This episode is laid out a little differently; with such a technical, nuts and bolts approach to the subject matter, we spend the first section of the show introducing some of the basic concepts and the layout of Terra and its associated parts and then dive into our interview with Do Kwon. We are getting into the weeds on insurance, collateral, interoperability, the potential scalability of the platform, as well as the Mirror and Anchor applications. It is quite a complex picture and together with Do we attempt to simplify in this podcast how everything works together.

Key Points From This Episode:

• Background on Do Kwon, his qualifications, and entry into the blockchain space.
• Setting the scene in the current crypto world and how Terra fits into this picture.
• The two different tokens that Terra offers and why they opted for this route.
• Use-cases for Terra; understanding the Mirror and Anchor applications.
• The organization of Terraform Labs; employee numbers and location.
• The growth policy laid out for Terra from the start and how it has worked in practice.
• Understanding the insurance and collateral aspects of the Terra blockchain.
• The emphasis that Terra has placed on interoperability since its inception.
• The principles of the CHAI payment network and how it fits with Terra.
• CHAI’s biggest benefits from a consumer’s perspective.
• Competition in the stablecoin market and Terra’s biggest DeFi[2] challengers.
• The probable future of Luna and looking at possible limitations.
• Anchor’s yields and putting these in context as the platforms scales.
• The under-the-radar status of Mirror right now, and changes with version two.
• The protocol team structure at Terra and misconceptions about the company.
• The expansion of the Terra ecosystem and Do’s excitement about new applications.
• Do’s perspectives on the biggest threat to Terra’s longevity!
• Getting involved in the Terra community and how to pitch a product to build.

• 1

  A stablecoin is a new class of cryptocurrencies that attempts to offer price stability and are backed by a reserve asset. Stablecoins have gained traction as they attempt to offer the best of both worlds—the instant processing and security or privacy of payments of cryptocurrencies, and the volatility-free stable valuations of fiat currencies.

• 2

  DeFi = Decentralized Finance