Evaluating only CryptoPago’s profile at its peak — without knowing the outcome — the model ranked Regulation as the #1 likely cause. Documented cause: Contagion.
Key Events Timeline
FOUNDING
Núñez and Herrera launch CryptoPago to enable crypto payments for Panamanian businesses.
FUNDING
Raises $900K from regional angel investors betting on Panama's pro-crypto regulatory stance.
FRAUD EXPOSURE
Terra/LUNA collapse destroys $400K of company UST reserves; Panama's Ley 129 remains unsigned.
SHUTDOWN
Company shuts down after losing 44% of total capital in the Terra collapse with no regulatory safety net.
Full Analysis
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Documented cause
CryptoPago, a Panama City crypto payments gateway co-founded by Gabriel Núñez and Luis Herrera in 2020, raised $900K from regional angels betting on Panama's crypto-friendly regulatory environment. The platform processed over $2M in transactions by early 2022. However, the Terra/LUNA collapse in May 2022 wiped out $400K of company reserves held in UST stablecoin. Simultaneously, Panama's Ley 129 on crypto remained unsigned, removing the regulatory certainty they had promised investors.
Lesson
“Never hold company reserves in algorithmic stablecoins; existential bets belong in stable assets.”