Crypto mogul Do Kwon sentenced to 15 years in prison for fraud

Do Kwon, the co-founder of Terraform Labs, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in New York for fraud related to the collapse of the TerraUSD and Luna cryptocurrencies in 2022. The collapse wiped out $40 billion in value and contributed to a broader downturn in the crypto market. Kwon pleaded guilty to US charges of conspiracy to defraud and wire fraud. Judge Paul Engelmayer deemed Kwon's actions "a fraud of epic generational scale" and imposed a longer sentence than prosecutors requested. Kwon has been in US custody since his extradition from Montenegro and agreed to forfeit $19.3 million. Prosecutors may support Kwon serving the second half of his sentence in South Korea, where he also faces charges.

Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs, was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a New York judge for an estimated $40 billion fraud related to the collapse of the TerraUSD and Luna digital currencies. Kwon, a South Korean national, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud and wire fraud, admitting to misleading investors about TerraUSD, a stablecoin. Prosecutors alleged that Kwon artificially boosted TerraUSD's value after it fell below its $1 peg in May 2021 by arranging for a trading firm to secretly purchase millions of dollars of the coin. Judge Engelmayer described the fraud as "epic" and causing immense harm, highlighting Kwon's repeated lies to investors. The case is one of several prosecutions against crypto leaders following the 2022 digital token slump.