🚨💥➡️DO KWON EXPECTED TO PLEAD GUILTY IN $40B TERRAUSD COLLAPSE CASE
- Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon is expected to plead guilty Tuesday in Manhattan federal court to U.S. fraud charges over the 2022 TerraUSD collapse that erased $40B in value, court records show.
- According to Reuters, Judge Paul Engelmayer scheduled a change-of-plea hearing for 10:30 a.m. EDT and ordered Kwon to detail how he broke the law.
- The 33-year-old had pleaded not guilty in January after a yearlong extradition battle between the U.S. and South Korea.
- TerraUSD, an algorithmic stablecoin tied to sister token Luna, lost its $1 peg in May 2022, triggering a market crash that also helped topple FTX.
- Kwon was arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 while using fake passports.
- In April, a U.S. jury found Kwon and Terraform misled investors and falsely claimed Korean payments app Chai used its blockchain. They agreed to a $4.47B civil settlement and to wind down operations.
- Kwon faces a nine-count criminal indictment, including securities fraud, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy.
- A guilty plea could resolve U.S. proceedings and impact his separate prosecution in South Korea.
- If accepted, it would mark one of the highest-profile guilty pleas in crypto history, setting precedent for cross-border fraud enforcement.
Image: Bloomberg
