In the latter developmentTerraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon appeared before a US magistrate on January 2, 2025 and pleaded not guilty to the charges at the first legal hearing in Manhattan since his extradition to the US.
Kwon faces several counts of securities fraud, bank fraud, money laundering and commodity fraud charges for his role in the 2022 collapse of the Terra ecosystem, which sent shockwaves through the crypto market. An updated 79-page indictment filed Thursday added one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
He previously agreed to pay an $80 million civil penalty and be barred from crypto transactions as part of a $4.55 billion settlement he and Terraform reached with the US SEC.
Prosecutors allege Kwon committed market manipulation
In Thursday’s indictment, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan alleged that Kwon misled investors in 2021 about TerraUSD, a so-called stablecoin designed to maintain a value of $1. Kwon allegedly told investors that a computer algorithm known as ‘Terra Protocol’ had restored the value of the coin when it slipped below its fixed value in May 2021, when in fact he allowed a high-frequency trading firm to secretly trade millions dollars of the token. artificially inflating the price.
Prosecutors said false claims and others led private and institutional investors to buy Terraform products and boost the value of Luna, a more traditional token developed by Kwon that has fluctuated in value but was closely tied to TerraUSD, to $50 billion in the spring of 2022. .
TerraUSD and Luna crashed that month, while also driving down the value of other cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, and wreaking greater havoc on the crypto market. However, his defense team argued that the tokens’ collapse was a result of market dynamics and not fraudulent activity, noting that Kwon had been transparent about investment risks.
Prosecutors highlighted instances in which Kwon’s public statements allegedly contradicted Terraform Labs’ operational realities, while highlighting the significant losses suffered by investors.
If convicted on all charges, Do Kwon could face more than 100 years in prison, although actual sentences are often shorter than the maximum sentences. His next court hearing has not yet been scheduled.
