Terra Luna's Demise: Foolishness, Criminality or a Failure of State?
I am not suggesting Terra Luna participants be reimbursed by Financial authorities or Insurance Companies. However, given Bitcoin has been around since 2009, Regulators’ failure to “catch-on” is, in my opinion (IMO) a pretty poor indictment of governments’ understanding of a core role they are elected to perform, i.e. public safety.
“Now, hang on,” you say, “How could the governments of the world have known what was going to happen?”
My answer, “Simple, really, we learn from history.”
When new technologies emerge, in order for them to be explained, we often turn to metaphor and analogy for assistance. For example, Bitcoin Wallets aren’t really wallets and Bitcoin Coins aren’t really coins, but describing them as such helps people hang their metaphorical hats of understanding on something familiar as a starting point.
The same is true of describing the status quo in crypto. It is often described as The Wild West, or The Gold Rush because it is an unregulated environment where some get rich. However, these analogies, like the metaphors previously given, are insufficient, misleading, and IMO cut through the quick of Terra Luna’s demise. Why? Because our understanding of the true conditions in The Wild West have been distorted by glamorous tales told with the likenesses of beautiful and handsome Hollywood actors, who rarely die ignoble deaths.
Did you know that in the first 20 years of the Gold Rush period it is estimated 100,000 people died in California? Most deaths were due to disease and the like, but 4000 were murders. Law and Order was pretty much non-existent. Vigilantism was rife. Perhaps this is as you expected, but did you also know the vacuum of Law and Order resulted in an explosion of enthic exploitation and outright racism?
I’m not here to lay the blame on the shoulders of one government. Pretty much all countries of the world have experienced periods of ethnic exploitation and racism.
The conditions around the accidents of every humans’ birth and the absence of Law and Order must never be used to justify criminality.
This is the lesson the governments of the world have failed to grasp. They have been so concerned with their perception of the challenge crypto represents as an economic force that they have turned their backs on their brothers and sisters.
Ah, you say, “But it is obvious that this crypto money thing invented by Terra Luna was going to fail. The victims never should have been there.”
Oh, really? That’s funny, because I haven’t found one academic who blamed the 100,000 deaths during The Gold Rush on gold. Nobody blamed the rivers, or the mountains. In fact, nobody blamed anyone of any ethnicity because the vast majority of PEOPLE were there for honest speculation.
The conditions in the world that have led to the development of crypto are not the fault of the public. In fact, that crypto was spawned by Human Culture pretty much makes it as natural a phenomenon as farming, underwear, sports, beer and television.
So where are we in this discussion? About ready for a conclusion, I think.
Just because someone engages in honest speculation out of sight of Law and Order it doesn’t mean they deserve to be handed their heads on plates. To disagree with this statement is tantamount to giving vandals, thugs and criminals a green light whilst patting every victim of every crime on the back and telling them, “It’s your fault for being where you were.”
It’s possible the creators of Terra Luna made some mistakes, but if a group of people are identified as having purposefully caused the public to lose wealth it is only right that we call it what it is, Criminality, and the government, or governments within whose jurisdictions they reside MUST prosecute them.