Do you remember LUNA, the one that made countless people rich overnight? Now its founder, Kwon Do-hyung, has just been sentenced to 15 years in a U.S. court.

This Stanford graduate, a top student, personally destroyed his crypto empire two years ago. In May 2022, the UST stablecoin suddenly lost its peg, causing LUNA’s price to plummet from hundreds of dollars to nearly zero. In just a few days, over $40 billion vanished from global investors—some liquidated and jumping from buildings, others losing everything, and the entire crypto circle plunged into panic.

Even more ironic, this disaster wasn’t just market volatility. Investigations revealed that Kwon Do-hyung claimed UST was maintained through an algorithmic mechanism, while secretly instructing traders to manipulate the market. He used fancy technical jargon to package lies, attracting retail and institutional investors to pour money in. When the bubble burst, this “crypto genius” tried to smuggle from Montenegro to Dubai with a fake passport but was caught at the airport.

Although the 15-year sentence isn’t the maximum, this outcome is a stark warning. The “wealth creation myth” hyped for years was ultimately a bloody bubble built on real money. The crypto market is full of opportunities, but unchecked speculation often ends in tragedy.

For ordinary investors, the lesson is simple: don’t be blinded by shiny degrees or impressive PPT presentations, and don’t fantasize about effortless wealth. The market carries risks, so proceed with caution—though it may sound cliché, every word hits home.