The story of knockoffs: Prison Edition

$FTT
FTX exchange's platform token, peaked at $84, now around $0.3, down over 99%. The November 2022 crash was the biggest farce in crypto history—SBF embezzled user funds, Alameda used FTT as collateral, and a CoinDesk article triggered a billion-dollar meltdown. Now FTX is in bankruptcy liquidation, SBF has been sentenced to 25 years, and FTT is still trading on life support, occasionally pumped by speculators, but everyone knows it’s only worth gambling. From a billion-dollar empire to prison in just ten days.
$LUNA
Terra ecosystem’s native token, peaked at $119, now around $0.05649, down 99.99%. In May 2022, the algorithm stablecoin UST decoupled, and LUNA plummeted from $80 straight down to fractions of a cent, wiping out a $40 billion market cap in a week. Do Kwon ran, was caught, and after months in Montenegro, was extradited to the US, where he’s still awaiting trial. Terra later launched 2.0, but the market never trusted it again. The lesson from $40 billion: one person ended up in prison.
$LUNC
Terra Classic, the renamed version of the original LUNA after the crash. Peaked at $119, same as LUNA, now around $0.0000368, down 99.99%. LUNC is the “original chain revival” created by the community after the crash, trying to deflate through a 1.2% transaction burn tax, but it’s beyond saving. Some community members still shout “burn to $1,” but mathematically, it’s impossible—total supply of 50 trillion, burning to $1 would require $50 trillion in liquidity. Faith is faith; math is math.
The common point is: they weren’t defeated by the market, but destroyed by their own people. Embezzlement, algorithm traps, regulatory iron fists—those who got in got out, those who went to zero went all the way. The harshest harvest isn’t liquidation, but total annihilation.