Do Kwon pleads guilty to U.S. fraud charges in US$ 40 bil. crypto collapse

Disgraced cryptocurrency mogul Do Kwon has pleaded guilty in the United States to two fraud charges.

With the plea deal, Kwon is expected to face no more than 12 years in prison, with half of his sentence potentially behind bars in South Korea.

Lee Seung-jae has more.

Disgraced South Korean cryptocurrency mogul Do Kwon on Tuesday, pleaded guilty in the United States to two fraud charges, connected to the 40 billion U.S. dollar collapse of Terraform Labs' digital currency ecosystem.

The 33-year-old entered the plea at a Manhattan federal court, where under the deal with prosecutors, Kwon will face no more than 12 years in prison if he abides by the agreement.

This is despite nine charges he was facing under the indictment and sentencing guidelines calling for roughly 25 years in prison.

Sentencing is scheduled for December 11th.

Also, as part of the plea deal, Kwon admitted to conspiring to commit commodities, securities, and wire fraud.

He will also forfeit over 19 million dollars, proceeds authorities say were illegally gained.

Kwon will also relinquish his stake in Terraform and its cryptocurrencies.

Meanwhile,.. if Kwon serves half his sentence and meets all conditions of the plea bargain, the U.S. Justice Department will support his request to transfer to South Korea under the International Prisoner Transfer Program.

Kwon has long requested that he be extradited to his home country, to serve prison time in South Korea.

However, he also faces separate criminal charges in South Korea.

Kwon co-founded Terraform Labs in 2018, developing the so-called stablecoin TerraUSD, pegged to the U.S. dollar to avoid price swings.

But in 2022, the token's value collapsed, wiping out about 40 billion dollars from TerraUSD and its sister coin Luna, leaving investors around the world with major losses.

Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.