Do Kwon sent to prison for 15 years

Terraform Labs co-founder До Квон" href="https://noworries.news/biography/do-kvon/" data-bio-id="3665">Do Kwonhas been sentenced to 15 years in prison for a massive fraud that wiped out about $ 50 billion in cryptocurrency market value over three days in May 2022. The sentence was handed down by Judge Paul Engelmeyer of the Southern District of New York, exceeding the prosecution’s request for 12 years. The defense had asked for five, but the court called the request «absolutely unthinkable.» Kwon will serve half of his sentence in the United States, after which he will be able to request a transfer to South Korea, where cases are also pending against him.

Judge Engelmeyer called the scale of the fraud «staggering» and emphasized the global implications for investors. He specifically mentioned Kwon’s flight after the TerraUSD collapse: first to Serbia, then to Montenegro, where he was detained with fake passports when he tried to fly to Dubai. During the hearing, the judge accused Kwon of deliberately misleading investors, noting that in the final days of TerraUSD’s collapse, the entrepreneur publicly urged investors to «remain faithful to the project» while exiting the market himself. The court called this behavior «disgusting.»

Kwon’s behavior on social media drew additional criticism. The judge cited a well-known case when the entrepreneur ridiculed a critic with words: «I don’t discuss with the poor on Twitter». Engelmeyer quoted historian Robert Caro, emphasizing: «Power reveals the essence of a person. You disrespected a skeptic and it showed who you really are.» The judge also criticized the plea deal, questioning its leniency and asking whether it was politically influenced. Prosecutors denied this.

The US Department of Justice called the verdict a warning to the crypto industry. The head of the department’s office, Jay Clayton, said that Kwon deliberately manipulated investors, artificially inflated the price of Terraform tokens, and tried to buy political protection in different countries to avoid responsibility. According to him, the agency will continue to pursue fraud in both traditional finance and digital assets.

In August, Kwon pleaded guilty to several counts of conspiracy to commit fraud in commodities, securities, and electronic transfers. The TerraUSD collapse was the first major crypto market crash in 2022, triggering a chain reaction that ended in the bankruptcy of FTX. The former head of FTX, Сем Бенкман-Фрід" href="https://noworries.news/biography/sem-benkman-frid/" data-bio-id="3697">Sam Bankman-Fried, is currently serving 25 years in prison, while Celsius founder Alex Machinsky is serving 12. Kwon’s emotional address in court, where he apologized and mentioned his wife and four-year-old daughter, did not influence the decision. The judge said that «the letters of support resemble fan mail» and that the harm caused to the victims outweighed the convict’s personal circumstances.