Terraform Labs co-founder, pleading guilty to two charges, was accused of misleading investors in 2021 about TerraUSD
Do Kwon, the South Korean entrepreneur behind two cryptocurrencies that lost an estimated $40bn in 2022 and caused the market to implode, 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 federal court hearing in New York. 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 $1 – Kwon pleaded guilty to the two counts under an agreement with the Manhattan US attorney’s office, which brought the charges.
He faces up to 25 years in prison when Engelmayer sentences him on 11 December, though prosecutor Kimberly Ravener said the government had agreed to advocate for a prison term of no more than 12 years, provided he accepts responsibility for his crimes. He has been detained since his extradition from Montenegro late last year.
