CryptoNewsZ is joined today by a serial entrepreneur, Daniel Shin, co-founder of Terra, co-founder and board member of Fast Track Asia, and founder and former CEO of Korea’s leading e-commerce platform TMON. Daniel was Construction company for 9 years.
CryptoNewsZ: Welcome to CryptoNewsZ Daniel, our readers would love to learn more about your journey in the blockchain and crypto domains.
I founded and grew one of the largest e-commerce platforms in Korea called TMON. Every year we spent millions just on transaction fees. Naturally, I was interested in the payments industry and asked myself how we can make the process more efficient. When I hooked up with Terra’s other co-founder, Do Kwon, and started learning about the possibilities of blockchain and crypto, I knew that this is the technology that can really disrupt not only payments but the financial services industry in general.
Daniel Shin
CryptoNewsZ: You have a degree in Economics from Wharton Undergrad and you are also known as one of the most famous entrepreneurs and investors in East Asia. How did you come up with this innovative idea for introducing Terra?
When Do and I were serious about starting Terra, we couldn’t find a single cryptocurrency that was actually being used. And to this day, the industry is still struggling to push mass adoption. We identified two main problems that we would address first in order to create something that is widespread.
First was price stability. The term “cryptocurrency” felt more and more like an oxymoron; By definition, a currency must be of the quality to be widely accepted and used, but due to the extreme price volatility, mainstream consumers and traders do not want to use or accept crypto. That is why we have developed a decentralized stablecoin that can realize the original vision of Bitcoin and serve as digital money.
The second part we focused on was adoption. We knew from the start that just because you created something useful, it doesn’t mean that it would be used. So I connected with other entrepreneurs who have started major ecommerce platforms in Asia and they’ve all embraced Terra’s vision and value proposition. These platforms will act as a gateway to get mainstream consumers to use Terra instantly to purchase everyday goods and services.
Daniel Shin
CryptoNewsZ: Daniel, can you please tell us a little bit about Terra and why did you choose the algorithmic route?
At its core, Terra is an algorithmic stable coin that powers our blockchain payment network. The goal is to become the first widely adopted cryptocurrency by driving adoption through a formidable e-commerce alliance that includes giants from the Asia-Pacific region like TMON, Baemin, Carousell, Qoo10 and Tiki. To date, we have more than 25 partners who generate an annual transaction volume of over 50 billion US dollars and serve as the ideal launchpad for Terra.
Terra keeps its price stable through a mechanism common to the world’s central banks: increasing and decreasing the amount of money. This means that as the economic and transaction volume of Terra grows, we can use the growth in the money supply or the so-called “seigniorage” to finance discounts that benefit private customers. The value proposition for the end user is simple: Enjoy the familiar checkout experience with a 5 to 10% discount made possible by Terra’s monetary policy.
Daniel Shin
CryptoNewsZ: How does Terra maintain price stability and what role does the Luna token play?
To complement what I shared earlier, the Terra protocol includes both stablecoin Terra and another native token called Luna. Luna is our mining token, the value of which is derived from Terra’s transaction fees. Luna also facilitates the expansion and contraction of Terra’s money supply to keep the price stable. The protocol acts as a market maker for Terra and uses Luna to buy and sell at target price, which means that it coins Luna to buy Terra and Luna earns from selling Terra. In other words, the supply of Luna absorbs changes in the demand for Terra.
Daniel Shin
CryptoNewsZ: Terra’s incredible mobile payment app CHAI has caught fire in the Korean market. CHAI is now also available on the interior design and furniture platform OHOUSE. What do you expect from CHAI and what big plans do you have for mass adoption?
In fact, CHAI is currently available on 5 major platforms in Korea including OHOUSE and TMON, one of the largest e-commerce platforms! To date, CHAI has over 400,000 users and is seeing strong double-digit weekly growth rates. To maintain this growth, we are aggressively integrating with our existing e-commerce partners and adding new ones from various industries. The aim is to keep growing so that Terra has a large portion of all online and offline transactions in Korea and beyond.
Daniel Shin
CryptoNewsZ: Terra recently expanded its e-commerce alliance to include the South Korean music streaming platform Bugs. CHAI will be the public face while Terra will provide the backend blockchain technologies. Which processes would you like to optimize through this collaboration?
Terra replaces the complicated payments value chain that spans multiple players such as credit card networks, banks and payment gateways with a single blockchain layer. This way we can offer traders a significantly cheaper transaction fee and save them money that can be reinvested in something else. Our ecommerce partners joined our vision because they felt an urgent need to make payments more efficient and we look forward to continuing to work with platforms like Bugs to expand our reach.
Daniel Shin
CryptoNewsZ: Terra is expanding its presence by collaborating with global partners who have become an integral part of everyday life. What’s next for the next season? Any upcoming partnerships?
CHAI’s integration plan with Korean partners is pretty full for the rest of the year. We have new large partners whose announcements will follow soon, but one thing we are very excited about expanding into the Southeast Asian markets.
We plan to open an operational office in Singapore by the end of the year with the aim of starting CHAI in early 2020. We also laid the foundations for expansion into Hong Kong, Mongolia and Taiwan so that 2020 starts to be an exciting year for Terra.
Daniel Shin
CryptoNewsZ: Daniel, you have extensive experience in all of your endeavors. What advice would you give to those currently trying to get a start-up off the ground?
Make sure you have a clear value proposition and focus on user growth. This is the most important metric for every start-up!
Daniel Shin
Thank you for your precious time, Daniel. It has been a pleasure to interact with you and we wish you every success in all of your endeavors.
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