Terraform Founders Face Closing Arguments in Fraud Trial

In the upcoming trial's closing arguments, attorneys for Terraform Labs and its founder Do Kwon will address allegations of defrauding investors before the TerraUSD stablecoin collapse in 2022. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accuses them of misleading investors about TerraUSD's stability and falsely claiming its blockchain's use in a Korean payment app. Kwon and Terraform's defense maintains that the SEC misconstrued statements and relied on biased witnesses seeking whistleblower payouts.

Terraform Labs Founders Face Closing Arguments in Alleged Fraud Trial

By Jody Godoy
(Reuters) - Attorneys representing Terraform Labs and its enigmatic co-founder, Do Kwon, are poised to deliver their closing arguments on Friday in a high-stakes trial that has captivated the cryptocurrency industry. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused the Singapore-based company and Kwon of orchestrating a fraudulent scheme that duped investors and ultimately led to the catastrophic implosion of TerraUSD (UST), a stablecoin designed to maintain a stable value of $1.

The SEC alleges that Terraform and Kwon engaged in a systematic campaign of deception, painting a rosy picture of UST's stability while concealing its inherent vulnerabilities. The regulator further contends that the defendants made false and misleading claims about the widespread adoption of Terraform's blockchain technology by the popular Korean mobile payment application Chai.

Terraform and Kwon's attorneys have vigorously defended their clients, arguing that the SEC has cherry-picked evidence and misconstrued their statements. They maintain that the plaintiffs have relied heavily on the testimony of disgruntled former employees who are motivated by the prospect of whistleblower rewards if the SEC prevails.

The outcome of this closely watched trial will have far-reaching implications for the nascent cryptocurrency sector. The SEC seeks to impose crippling financial penalties on Terraform and Kwon and bar them from participating in the securities industry. The regulator's victory would send a strong message that it will not tolerate fraud and abuse in the cryptocurrency market.

Kwon, who was apprehended in Montenegro in March 2023, has not appeared at the trial, which commenced on March 25. Both the United States and South Korea, where Kwon holds citizenship, have issued extradition requests for him on separate criminal charges.

Kwon is the mastermind behind TerraUSD and Luna, a companion token whose value fluctuated in the open market but was closely tied to UST. The SEC estimates that investors collectively lost over $40 billion in the two tokens when UST's peg to the dollar crumbled in May 2022.

The collapse of the Terra ecosystem sent shockwaves through the cryptocurrency industry, dragging down the value of other cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, and triggering a contagion эффект that pushed several cryptocurrency companies into bankruptcy.

The SEC alleges that Kwon and Terraform clandestinely arranged for a third party to purchase massive quantities of UST to artificially inflate its price when the stablecoin first lost its peg in May 2021. Kwon then falsely attributed the price recovery to the robustness of UST's algorithmic mechanisms, according to the regulator.

Additionally, the SEC asserts that Terraform and Kwon falsely represented that their blockchain was the underlying technology powering the Chai payment app, which supposedly processed and settled transactions between customers and merchants.

As the closing arguments approach, the jury will be tasked with evaluating a vast body of evidence and determining whether Terraform and Kwon engaged in a deliberate scheme to mislead investors and whether their actions violated federal securities laws. The verdict will shape the regulatory landscape for the cryptocurrency industry and set a precedent for future enforcement actions.