Former cryptocurrency executive Do Kwon to appear in US court on criminal fraud charges

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan in March 2023 charged Kwon, who co-founded Terraform Labs and developed the TerraUSD and Luna currencies, with two counts each of securities fraud, wire fraud, commodities fraud and conspiracy.

Kwon has denied wrongdoing. He agreed last June to pay an US$80 million civil fine and be banned from cryptocurrency transactions as part of a US$4.55 billion settlement that he and Terraform reached with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

He is expected to appear before US Magistrate Judge Robert Lehrburger in Manhattan federal court on Thursday afternoon.

A lawyer for Terraform said in closing arguments that Terraform and Kwon had been truthful about their products and how they worked, even when they failed.

Kwon did not attend that trial because he had been detained in Montenegro since March 2023. Terraform declared bankruptcy last January.