From Forbes 30 Under 30 to prison: Terraform founder Do Kwon’s US$40b crypto empire collapses with 15-year jail sentence

NEW YORK, Dec 12 — A US court on Thursday sentenced disgraced cryptocurrency entrepreneur Do Kwon to 15 years in prison over fraud tied to the collapse of his digital asset empire, a downfall that erased about US$40 billion (RM165 billion) in investor funds and rattled global crypto markets.

Kwon, the co-founder of Terraform Labs, was sentenced in New York after pleading guilty in August following a prolonged international manhunt across Asia and Europe. The 34-year-old still faces separate fraud charges in his native South Korea.

Terraform Labs developed TerraUSD, a cryptocurrency marketed as a “stablecoin” designed to maintain a fixed value by being pegged to assets such as the US dollar. Alongside its sister token Luna, the project was aggressively promoted as a breakthrough in digital finance, drawing billions of dollars in investments and widespread global attention.

Kwon was once hailed in South Korea as a tech prodigy, with local media labelling him a “genius” as thousands of retail investors rushed to back his venture. In 2019, he was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Asia list.

However, TerraUSD and Luna collapsed spectacularly in May 2022, entering what analysts described as a “death spiral”. Experts later likened the operation to a pyramid scheme, with many investors losing their life savings.

Kwon fled South Korea before the crash and remained on the run for months. He was arrested in March 2023 at Podgorica airport in Montenegro while attempting to board a flight to Dubai, carrying a fake Costa Rican passport. He was extradited to the United States last year.

Fraudulent schemes

Following the sentencing, US prosecutors outlined how Kwon allegedly made false claims about Terraform’s products to attract investors, including major American investment firms. At its peak in spring 2022, the combined market value of TerraUSD and Luna surpassed US$50 billion.

Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk, appeared in person in a US court for the first time on Thursday. — Reuters pic

“Do Kwon devised elaborate schemes to mislead investors and artificially inflate the value of Terraform’s cryptocurrencies for his own benefit,” US Attorney Jay Clayton said.

Prosecutors also said Kwon sought “political protection” from multiple countries after the collapse. They cited a recorded conversation in which he told an associate that his approach to authorities probing the case was to “tell them to fuck off”.

In addition to the prison sentence, Kwon was ordered to forfeit more than US$19 million in proceeds linked to the fraud. The US Justice Department said he could potentially serve part of his sentence in South Korea, provided at least half is completed in the United States.

The case comes amid heightened global scrutiny of cryptocurrencies following a series of high-profile failures and scandals in recent years. Kwon’s dramatic rise and fall has drawn comparisons to Elizabeth Holmes, the convicted founder of disgraced medical technology firm Theranos. — AFP