Do Kwon Is Wanted in 195 Countries. What Happens Next?

Kwon’s addition to Interpol’s needed record raises questions in regards to the doable penalties for him and the broader crypto area. 

Do Kwon Handed Pink Discover 

The cat-and-mouse chase between South Korean authorities and Do Kwon simply stepped up a gear. 

Prosecutors in Seoul confirmed Monday that the Terraform Labs co-founder had been added to Interpol’s pink discover record, successfully making him a needed fugitive in 195 nations. Bloomberg first reported on the replace and the prosecutors have since confirmed the information with a number of publications. Crypto Briefing reached out to the prosecutors, Kwon, and Terraform Labs representatives for remark however had not obtained a response at press time. 

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Workplace stated on September 19 that it had initiated the method of including Kwon to the worldwide police group’s needed record, escalating the manhunt for the central determine behind the failed Terra blockchain. 

Authorities worldwide have been investigating Kwon and Terraform Labs since Terra’s UST stablecoin misplaced its parity to the greenback in Might in a $40 billion wipeout occasion that rocked an already-shaky cryptocurrency market. Kwon and Terraform Labs left South Korea for Singapore forward of Terra’s blow-up, however Singapore police stated on September 17 that he’d fled the nation. Kwon took to Twitter that day to inform his followers that he was “not ‘on the run,’” a declare that South Korean officers later refuted. 

“We’re within the technique of defending ourselves in a number of jurisdictions – we have now held ourselves to a particularly excessive bar of integrity, and look ahead to clarifying the reality over the following few months,” Kwon wrote.

The Case Towards Kwon

Although Kwon’s identify didn’t seem on Interpol’s website at press time, right this moment’s replace is the clearest signal but that the 31-year-old Stanford alum may face jail time over Terra’s spectacular wipeout. 

Prosecutors wish to converse with Kwon and 5 different people affiliated with Terraform Labs for alleged violations of capital markets legislation, and so they’ve stated that the costs concern the monetary losses 1000’s of buyers suffered on Terra’s native tokens. 

South Korean enforcement probed Kwon on suspicion of tax fraud and working a Ponzi scheme after Terra collapsed, and he’s additionally going through class motion lawsuits in Korea and the U.S. In June, the SEC started wanting into how Terraform Labs marketed its flagship product amid debates over whether or not Kwon and his firm misled buyers in labeling UST as a stablecoin. Up to now, although, it’s unclear how the prosecutors plan to current their case towards Kwon, and to what extent he’s fallen foul of the legislation. 

No matter case awaits Kwon, he’ll want authorized illustration. With Terra’s LUNA struggling a digital 100% collapse in Might, questions have been raised over Kwon’s monetary well being. Terra’s Luna Basis Guard memorably stated it spent over $1 billion value of Bitcoin on an try to avoid wasting UST, which might have left the group with about $80 million in Bitcoin and different digital belongings. Kwon and Terraform Labs’ present token holdings and different reserves are unclear partly as a result of opacity of their exercise, however the unique Terra and Terra 2.0 blockchains are collectively value about $2.2 billion, per CoinGecko knowledge. 

Terra’s Domino Impact

Whereas Kwon’s destiny remains to be unknown, there’s a great probability that authorities will probably be set on making an instance of him as a result of scale of Terra’s collapse. The incident triggered a slide within the crypto market that hit Three Arrows Capital and a collection of once-giant crypto lenders, however retail buyers had been arguably the most important losers within the blow-up. Terraform Labs efficiently rallied an viewers of devotees that known as themselves the “Lunatics,” praising Kwon because the undertaking’s outspoken hero as the value of its LUNA token rallied. However as soon as the blockchain collapsed and buyers began shedding life financial savings (and in some circumstances, their lives), Kwon turned crypto’s public enemy primary, setting the stage for the continued manhunt. 

Whereas the crypto market remains to be struggling due to Terra’s downfall and weak macroeconomic circumstances, regulators are being attentive to find out how to forestall a repeat of UST’s collapse sooner or later. U.S. lawmakers put ahead a invoice final week that might introduce a ban on UST-like algorithmic stablecoins, doubtlessly threatening different decentralized greenback options like MakerDAO’s DAI. Crypto has seen numerous initiatives rise and fall over its 13-year historical past, however none have drawn as a lot regulatory consideration as Terra’s failure. That’s a nasty signal for Kwon and Terraform Labs, and it could possibly be the catalyst that results in extra stringent checks on the area for years to return. 

Kwon’s doable arrest has not gone unnoticed out there. LUNC (the ticker for the unique LUNA) and the brand new LUNA token powering Kwon’s second try at a Terra blockchain each plummeted after earlier updates from the prosecutors, however curiously, they’re each buying and selling within the inexperienced right this moment. LUNC has jumped 26.4% amid curiosity within the undertaking’s new 1.2% tax burn, whereas LUNA is up 7.8%, per CoinGecko knowledge. Nonetheless, worth updates are unlikely to settle Kwon’s thoughts right this moment; whereas he made no secret of his delight in LUNA’s surge earlier this yr, with a world police chase to take care of, it’s most likely honest to imagine that his thoughts is on greater issues than inexperienced candles in the meanwhile. 

Disclosure: On the time of writing, the creator of this piece owned ETH and several other different cryptocurrencies.