Mike Novogratz, the founder of crypto asset management company Galaxy Digital, informed his fans that his LUNA-inspired tattoo would serve as a reminder that humility is essential in venture capital investment.
Novogratz published an open message to his followers on Wednesday in response to the recent LUNA/TerraUSD crash, stating, “My tattoo will be a constant reminder that venture investing requires humility.”
— Mike Novogratz (@novogratz) January 5, 2022
Novogratz initially displayed his wolf-themed tattoo to his 461,000 Twitter followers on January 5 as an impassioned display of his support for the now-defunct Terra environment.
TerraUSD stablecoin, which depended on an algorithm to maintain a peg to the US dollar, failed last week, driving the price of its sister token LUNA to almost zero in less than three days. The crash eliminated around $40 billion from the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
The crash undermined faith in crypto and Defi. As money is lost so abruptly, people need explanations. Despite last week’s “heart-wrenching” market chaos, he said that the crypto business is stronger than ever and would not disappear any time soon.
“This does not mean the crypto market will bottom and head straight back up. It will take restructuring, a redemption cycle, consolidation and renewed confidence in crypto.”
He said that Galaxy Digital invested in LUNA via balance sheet funds in the fourth quarter of 2020 and highlighted that the company’s treasury never used UST:
“Our team’s initial thesis for investing in LUNA was centred around the expansion of blockchain-native payments systems.”
According to an update issued by Galaxy Digital on May 13, the company is expected to undergo a $300 million loss until May 11, reducing the partners’ capital by 12%, to $2.2 billion from March 31.
Pantera Capital, one of the initial investors in Terraform Labs, said that it had liquidated around 80% of its LUNA stake long before the TerraUSD crash. Paul Veradittakit, a partner at Pantera, said that the company managed to transform $1.7 million into nearly $170 million.
Not only has Novogratz gotten a crypto-themed tattoo, but crypto-themed tattoos have exploded in popularity, with Google searches relating to crypto tattoos increasing by 222% in 2021. More than 900 individuals worldwide have Bitcoin (BTC) “B” tattoos, and Dogecoin (DOGE) and Ether (ETH) tattoos are on the increase.