The South Korean founder of Singapore-based Terraform Labs was behind the TerraUSD and Luna digital currencies
Do Kwon, the South Korean cryptocurrency entrepreneur behind two digital currencies that lost an estimated US$40 billion in 2022, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to two US charges of conspiracy to defraud and wire fraud.
Kwon, 33, who co-founded Singapore-based Terraform Labs and developed the TerraUSD and Luna currencies, entered the plea at a court hearing in New York before US District Judge Paul Engelmayer.
He had pleaded not guilty in January to a nine-count indictment charging him with securities fraud, wire fraud, commodities fraud and money-laundering conspiracy.
Accused of misleading investors in 2021 about TerraUSD – a so-called stablecoin designed to maintain a value of US$1 – Kwon pleaded guilty to the two counts under an agreement with the Manhattan US Attorney’s office, which brought the charges.
