We are the Peg, mfker

Polkachu Team | 2022-05-11

It has only been bad days in crypto lately. The TerraUST drama has made many people poor, and we are deeply sorry to see that. Polkachu has a small position in Osmo-Luna pool locked for 14 days. We do not look at the pool to avoid eye damages.

In a period of technological paradigm shift (we believe we are in one), we like to keep our perspective by revisiting Chris Dixon's classic Strong and weak technologies: "Weak technologies adapt to the world as it currently exists. Strong technologies adapt the world to themselves. Progress depends on strong technologies."

We think that what TerraUST represents is a strong form of technology. It is built natively on the blockchain technology. It creates a novel burn mechanism that keeps UST stable (until not) while letting Luna absorb all volatilities. It offers a stablecoin not skeuomorphic to all the fiat currencies and stablecoins from the past. By being under-collateralized, TerraUST has been able to grow astronomically while carrying huge risks that were undoubtedly manifested this week.

A strong form of technology does not mean that it will succeed. Maybe the time is too early, and a new attempt several years later will yield a different result. Or maybe it is never destined for success due to its flawed mechanism. Nonetheless, it passes the "strong technologies adapt the world to themselves" test and we applaud Do Kwon and all the builders in this heroic effort.

In fact, in Polkachu's crypto journey, Do Kwon has been quite a hero. We were impressed by his clear articulation of the TerraUST product vision, "TerraLuna has only one product, which is the UST stablecoin. Everything else we built is to drive the adoption of this one product." In a way, he lets the whole world know this open secret while staying ahead of the competition. We wish him the best after this saga.

Terra might survive, or not. Do Kwon might be more humble on Twitter, or not. LUNAtics might move on to worship a new idol, or no. Crypto market will rebound quickly, or not. However, if you stretch out the time horizon, all these questions become irrelevant.

The key question is: Will builders continue to build? After all, crypto is nothing but builders. In the past few days, we have been quite impressed by the resolve of crypto builders. A moment like this will surely wash out the mercenaries and keep the true builders focused.

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." When the dust settles, let's continue to be unreasonable, push the boundaries, and build strong forms of technology.

We are the peg, mfker!